Be Careful What You Wish For
by Detective Olivia Stabler
Summary: What began as a one night stand, quickly turned into a night that would change his life forever. A story about loving and learning to let people in, trusting when you have lost all hope and finding the one thing you never knew you wanted. EO Forever.
1. 1 A One Night Thing

_**Be Careful What You Wish For**_

_**(Chapter One: A One Night Thing)**_

**Elliot was sitting on a barstool in the airport lounge talking to the bartender. His flight had been delayed by the thunderstorm outside for more than three hours now and he was bored out of his mind. Elliot had shared a few words with this man during his past visits to Chicago. Since Kathy had moved here with the children he tried to visit as frequently as he could, often staying just one night before flying back to New York to rush back to work.**

"**How long do you think this delay is going to be?" Elliot asked looking at his watch.**

"**I don't know," the bartender replied. "I have seen flights grounded all night because of storms like this."**

"**Great," Elliot scoffed tapping the bar as he motioned for another beer.**

"**You might as well get a room and make a night of it," the man behind the bar suggested.**

"**A night of it? I was supposed to take the earlier flight and be back by now."**

"**Why didn't you?"**

"**My little girl, Elizabeth, had a ballet recital. She begged me to go and watch her dance."**

"**You got a kid?"**

"**Kids. Four, three girls and a boy," Elliot said opening his wallet to show the man some pictures of the children. "Maureen is sixteen, Kathleen is fourteen and the twins are ten."**

"**Good looking bunch of kids," the man said handing the wallet back.**

"**You got kids?" Elliot asked.**

"**No, kids aren't my thing. Not yet anyway."**

"**Not yet?"**

"**Maybe in the future after I finish school. I wouldn't mind starting a family. But not until I can at least support them. And that isn't going to happen working at the bar four nights a week while I'm going to school full time."**

"**Responsible thinking. What are you….twenty?"**

"**Twenty two."**

"**You still have time for the family life."**

"**What about you?" the man asked looking at Elliot. "The ex-wife and kids live in Chicago and you are in New York. Any hot new girlfriend?"**

"**No. I thought I would take a break from relationships for a while. Apparently I am not that great at them. I just don't think that I am in a place right now where I can offer what it takes to make a relationship work."**

"**So, you are more into the one niters?" **

"**No," Elliot laughed.**

"**Nothing? How long have you been divorced?"**

"**Almost just over a year."**

"**You should really consider finding a pretty young thing to spend a little time with, if you know what I mean. Even the best men can't go that long without sex. I couldn't do it," the man joked as he wiped off the bar.**

**Elliot laughed as he nodded his head.**

"**I guess you're right. I wouldn't mind finding someone. Just a one night thing, no rules or responsibilities. It could be nice."**

"**Here's your chance," the bartender said with a nod and a smile as a woman took a seat a few stools down from Elliot.**

"**You can't be serious," Elliot whispered looking back at the man.**

"**What? She is gorgeous and I don't see a ring on her hand."**

"**That doesn't mean she's interested."**

"**You will never know if you don't go over there and talk to her."**

**Elliot watched as the man stared at him with a blank look. The bartender shook his head and walked over to take her drink order.**

"**What can I get for you, ma'am?"**

"**Umm….vodka on the rocks," she said combing her fingers through her hair. "Any idea how long flights are delayed?"**

"**I haven't heard anything," he said as he slid her drink over to her.**

"**Of course," she groaned pulling a wallet from her purse. "I have to get back to New York. Is there a car rental place around here?"**

"**There is, just around the block. But the storm is bad and New York City is over a twelve hour drive on a clear day."**

**She exhaled, obviously inconvenienced by the delay and tossed a ten dollar bill on the bar.**

"**Don't worry about it," he said. "This one is on the house."**

"**Thank you," she said forcing a smile as she picked up the glass.**

"**You're trying to get back to New York, too?" Elliot asked looking at her down the bar.**

"**Yeah, but it doesn't look like I'm going to make it. It figures, my who life has been like this lately."**

"**I'm sorry you're having such a rough time. You're going to be late for something important?"**

**She looked up at him and laughed nervously. **

"**My first day at a new job."**

"**Ouch," Elliot said. "So you are moving from Chicago to New York for a job?"**

"**Umm, actually I live in Manhattan. I flew to Chicago for a training thing, a conference. I am supposed to start tomorrow. What about you?" she asked picking up her glass and moving to the stool beside him. "Do you live in Chicago?**

"**Queens."**

"**Queens?" she asked with a smile. "So what brought you to Chicago?"**

"**My ex-wife. She moved here with the kids a year ago after we divorced."**

"**I'm sorry."**

"**No, it's alright. It is hard being this far away from them all of the time. I visit when I can. The ex and I get along better this way. Maybe you should call your boyfriend back in Manhattan and let him know you will be late getting in."**

**She smiled and laughed.**

"**There is no boyfriend back in New York."**

"**No boyfriend? What a shame."**

**She laughed again.**

"**I don't date."**

"**Neither do I," Elliot replied flagging the bartender for another beer. "Can I buy you another drink?"**

**She smiled at him and tipped her head as she stared into his eyes.**

"**It doesn't look like we are getting out of here anytime soon," Elliot said pointing to the television screen behind the bar that showed the storm front completely covering the screen. **

"**What the hell," she replied with a smile. **

"**I'll take a beer and a vodka on the rocks," Elliot told the bartender.**

"**Actually, a beer would be great," she corrected him.**

**They talked for hours. About everything and nothing. They laughed and joked more like two old friends than a couple of strangers who met in a bar on night. Before they knew it four hours had past and the airline announced that all flights would be grounded until the following morning.**

"**Wonderful," she said sarcastically as she looked over at him.**

"**Maybe we should try to get a room," Elliot suggested as she stared at him. "I don't mean we as in….together. I just meant we, you and I, both….you should get a room and I should get a different room. Like on another floor or even in another hotel."**

**She laughed as he nervously tried to cover his slip of the tongue.**

"**I know what you meant."**

"**Because I….I mean we barely know each other."**

"**It's okay, really."**

**Elliot turned around to the bartender, still a bit embarrassed.**

"**I'd like to close out my tab," he said as he cleared his throat and laid a handful of cash on the bar in front of him. **

**They talked as the bartender called them a cab that took them to the nearest hotel. Inside she stood beside Elliot as he spoke to the woman behind the counter.**

"**We need two rooms for the night, please."**

"**I'm sorry," the woman said as she pulled up her list of openings on the computer screen. "I only have one room available."**

"**You can take it," he said looking back at the brown eyed beauty beside him. "There is another hotel down the road."**

"**Everything is full, sir. The storms have grounded every flight out of every airport within a hundred miles. Rooms are going fast. I only have this one, because someone didn't make their reservation."**

"**There is nothing else available anywhere?"**

"**There might be something further into the city. But all of the hotels close to the airport are booked up."**

"**We probably need to stay nearby to try to catch an early flight in the morning," Elliot thought out loud.**

"**If I could make a suggestion," the woman behind the counter said watching him for a reaction. "You could share the room."**

"**Share the room?" Elliot asked.**

"**It is a double suite, with two queen sized beds. Plenty of space for two people."**

**Elliot stared at the floor for a moment then looked at the woman beside him.**

"**What do you think?"**

"**It's better than spending the night in the airport. You aren't a crazy psycho murder, are you?" she asked with a smile.**

"**I left my weapon collection at home. I was afraid I would have trouble boarding the plane," he replied with a sarcastic smile.**

"**My bags have already been checked, so I think you're safe for one night," she said as she smiled back.**

"**We'll take it," Elliot said sliding his credit card across the counter.**

"**Okay. Wake up calls can be set from the phone in your room. Check out is ten o'clock and there is a free continental breakfast served in the lobby starting at six. Here are a couple of extra towels. If you need anything else, do not hesitate to call."**

"**We wont, thank you." Elliot picked up his carry on bag and looked at the room number on the receipt. "Where is room five fifteen?"**

"**Take the elevator to the fifth floor and it is about half way down on the left side."**

**The elevator ride up five floors was a long and awkward one. Neither of them said anything at all. Elliot wanted to say something to break the silence, but was afraid of making the situation even more awkward, so he said nothing. Instead he watched her as she stared up at the numbers above the door as they lit up one by one. **

**They stopped on the third floor as a few other passengers got on. The other elevator car must have been full, because they were going all the way to the fifth floor before going back down to the lobby. **

**Elliot let his mind wonder for a few moments and it found it's way back to her. The brunette who would be his roommate for the evening. She wasn't tall, but she wasn't short either. She was a bit athletic looking and had a lean, but shapely body with amazing curves. To say she was attractive would be an understatement, she was gorgeous. She was the kind of woman who made men nervous just to talk to her. She had a pretty face and a beautiful smile and Elliot was kicking himself for not remembering her name. he couldn't even remember if she had ever given it.**

"**Are you okay?" she asked with a smile as she caught him staring at her.**

"**I'm good."**

"**Ah, you don't do this often, do you?"**

"**Share a hotel room with someone I met six hours earlier? No."**

"**It has been almost seven hours now," she said and he couldn't take his eyes off hers.**

"**That makes it a little better," he laughed nervously.**

"**Here we go," she said as the doors opened and he followed her into the hall.**

"**She said it was on the left."**

"**Five eleven, five thirteen, five fifteen, this is us."**

**She leaned back against the wall and looked up at Elliot. He fumbled with the card key in his hand as he felt his heart racing. This was completely innocent, but he still felt nervous about being alone like this with the beautiful stranger.**

"**Do you need any help with that?" she asked as she stared into his eyes.**

"**With the key? I've got it," he mumbled like a fool as the lock beeped and the door popped open. "There," he said without breaking his stare.**

"**Thank you," she said without blinking as she stared into him and just like that, Elliot could see it in her eyes.**

**It was like he was reading her mind and he knew exactly what she wanted. What he wanted too, but they were both afraid to say. He watched as she raised up and leaned forward brushing her nose against his, inviting him to kiss her. But he was frozen and couldn't seem to move.**

**His heart was pounding and that wasn't the only part of his body responding to this perfect female creation in front of him. His jaw fell open as she crumpled his tie in her hand and leaned closer. Her dark eyelashes batted as she smiled, but didn't pull away from him. **

**Then she did it.**

**She must have gotten tired of waiting for him to respond, because she leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his. Elliot closed his eyes as they shared the most amazing kiss he had ever shared with a woman in his life. **

**She moaned softly as their lips parted only for a second before finding each other again. When Elliot opened his eyes, hers were still closed. He raised his hand to cup her cheek and placed his other arm against the small of her back to pull her body in to meet his.**

**This time the kiss didn't end. Instead it was followed by another and another and another, until they were both inside the room and the door had closed behind them. She rushed to pull undo his tie and unbutton his shirt. **

**Elliot couldn't help but be drawn to the exotic beauty as he combed his fingers through her hair and kissed the soft skin on the side of her neck. The next thing he knew his clothes were in a pile in the floor next to her black dress and they were in bed together having the most incredible sex he had ever experienced.**

**Afterward Elliot laid there with her in his arms and watched her as she slept. The beautiful one night stand he picked up in an airport lounge. **


	2. 2 Modern Day Romeo & Juliet

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Two: Modern Day Romeo & Juliet)_

Elliot was exhausted the next morning when he woke up in the hotel bed alone. It was near one o'clock in the morning when they had entered the hotel room and well after four by the clock on the night stand after they had finished making love for the fourth time.

Loving her was easy. She was so soft and beautiful. The smell of her perfume drove him wild and she was a very giving lover. And when they had finished she would curl up against him and sleep for a while before she would wake him wanting to make love again. This woman was amazing.

He rolled over in the bed and tried to focus his tired eyes on the clock on the nightstand. He smiled when he remembered the events that had taken place that morning after their wake up call. She opened her eyes to stare at him and smiled her pretty smile. That was it, moments later they were making love again.

Elliot scratched his head as he noticed the light on in the bathroom. He yawned and stretched as he stood up and walked across the room. Elliot leaned against the bathroom door and watched as she got ready for her day.

"Hey," he said brushing her hair back and kissing the side of her neck.

"Hey," she mumbled with a mouthful of tooth paste.

He watched as she rinsed her mouth and turned to face him.

"I called the airport and they have a flight leaving for New York at nine. The woman said if we present our tickets from the canceled flight, they will honor them today."

"So, it looks like us being laid over in Chicago last night wasn't as bad as we thought it would be," he said with a smile. "We made love six times."

"I know," she said with a smile as she leaned forward and kissed him, "I was there."

"Hey, is that my tooth brush?"

She pressed her lips together and looked at the blue tooth brush in her hand.

"All of my stuff had already been checked. I have to start a new job as soon as we get back to New York. You had your tongue in my mouth and," she cleared her throat, "_other_ places all last night. I guess I didn't think it was that big a deal."

"That is my tooth brush," Elliot mumbled a bit in shock.

"Look," she said as she walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a small bottle of vodka. She walked back into the bathroom as she twisted the cap off the bottle and poured the entire contents over the head of the tooth brush. "There, all better."

Elliot stared at her for a moment as he took it from her hand.

"Yeah," he said, not really sure what had just happened here.

"If we hurry we'll have time for a little breakfast before our flight."

"I'm sure they have coffee and donuts downstairs."

"Sounds great, I'm starving. I guess after all of that sex, I worked up an appetite," she whispered as she brushed past him and out of the bathroom.

After taking a quick shower, Elliot dressed and they headed downstairs for breakfast. Elliot sat down at the table across from her and watched as she picked at half a grapefruit.

"No donuts?" he asked.

"You know, those aren't healthy. I bet there are like five hundred calories in each one of those."

"Oh," Elliot replied looking at the stack of four donuts on his plate. "Maybe I will just have the danish," he said as he sat the other three on a napkin beside the plate.

They talked like old friends over breakfast and sat beside each other on the flight back to New York. At the airport Elliot hailed her a cab and hugged her goodbye. She climbed inside the car and he closed the door and watched the car drive her away and out of his life. He caught the next cab and headed home to his apartment.

Though Cragen had given him the rest of the day off, Elliot wasn't finding himself of much use at home. He straightened up the apartment and unpacked his bags. He ate some lunch and sat down to watch a little television. But he couldn't keep his mind off the beautiful woman he had been with the night before.

All of the sex aside, she seemed to be a pretty remarkable person as well. And now Elliot found himself wishing that he had gotten up the nerve to ask for her name. He scratched his head as he slouched back into the sofa and closed his eyes to remember what she looked like.

Her long legs and tanned skin. Dark hair and chocolate eyes. Her soft full lips and the was the corners of her mouth curled up to create that pretty smile. She was so soft and warm and smelled so good. When he thought about her it brought to mind the kind of comfort one would find from homemade chocolate chip cookies and warm sunshine.

God, the way she laughed and the way she loved she was incredible. Elliot had never met anyone like her in his life and somehow doubted he ever would again. He understood to know that when you have a one night stand with someone you are not supposed to continue to think about them like this. Not the way he was thinking about her.

And as unsure of the rules as he was, he was certain that the animosity of the event was for the best. He was never supposed to know her name. But if her were to find out somehow, he was sure it would be something sweet and soft and fit her well. It would be something like Bridget or Sarah or Melissa. Sarah, he thought. That seemed to fit her.

Elliot smiled as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, but the only thing could see were her beautiful brown eyes. They were so dark and mysterious, sexy and exotic. He took a deep breath wishing he could smell her sweet perfume once more, but all that was there was the scent of the ham and pineapple pizza he had ordered for lunch.

He exhaled heavily and stood up. Staying home the rest of the afternoon was going to drive him crazy, so he might as well go into work and do something productive. Elliot carried the half empty pizza box into the kitchen, he grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

"I thought you had the rest of the day off?" Fin asked as Elliot stepped off the elevator and sorted through his messages.

"I did. But I didn't have anything better to do, so I figured I would come in here and get some work done.

"So how was Chicago?"

"Okay."

"How are the kids?"

"Well adjusted," Elliot said sitting down at his desk and turning on his computer.

"That's good."

"Yeah, I know. But I can't seem to convince myself that."

"I know it has got to be hard being this far away from your kids for so long. But you want them to be happy and doing well in school, right?"

"Of course. I guess I just kind of hoped maybe if they didn't adjust well to the new life in a new city, Kathy would have just given up and brought them back home."

"It's tough, man."

"But I stayed a little longer and got to go watch Elizabeth's ballet recital. She was super excited that daddy was there."

"I bet. How did she do?"

"Fin, she is ten. They don't do Swan Lake or anything. It is just some twirling around and little pirouettes, kind of general dance moves. But her teacher said they will be using the girls with some of the older dancers in the dance academy's Christmas production of The Nutcracker. Elizabeth is really excited about that. She made me promise I would come and watch."

"That sounds like fun," Fin said with a sarcastic grin. "Ballet slippers and pink tutus just aren't my thing."

"Well, they're not my thing either. But my little girl loves them. And it means the world to her when daddy comes all the way from New York to see her dance."

"I bet. You're a good dad, Elliot."

"I try to be. But this long distance stuff makes it kind of hard."

"Did you do anything else of interest during your wild weekend in Chicago?" Fin laughed.

"Actually," Elliot began and then paused for a moment.

"Yeah?"

"I met someone."

"Met someone? Like a potential girlfriend?"

"Not exactly."

"Ahh, you _met_ someone."

"Yeah, that is more accurate."

"Was she hot?"

"Beautiful. Great body, pretty face and she was genuinely sweet."

"Did you take her back to your hotel?"

"Yes, I did."

"And?"

"And it was magnificent. She was amazing and the sex was incredible. I had never really done anything like that before."

"You never had a one night stand?"

"Fin, I was married for seventeen years."

"So she is from Chicago?"

"No, Manhattan. She was waiting for the same flight back to New York. After all flights were grounded because of the storm we struck up conversation in the airport lounge. We ended up sharing a hotel room and a night of the best sex I have ever had in my life. This morning we boarded a plane and headed back here. I put her in a cab at the airport and she waved as it drove away."

"Modern day Romeo and Juliet."

"Something like that."

"Did you get her number?"

"No."

"Why not? If she lives in Manhattan you guys could have hooked up for a little consensual sex from time to time."

"I didn't even get her name. It was a one night stand, I figured that was against the rules."

"Elliot, there really are no rules. All that means is that you are not obligated to be there in the morning. Sex with no responsibilities, no relationship, no pressure. But I have known a few people who started out with a one night stand and ended up dating the woman. A buddy of mine just married his girlfriend of two years and they are about to have a baby together. They started out a one night stand. But he got her number and after they talked for a while, they decided to try dating."

"I wanted to ask her name. But I didn't want to make it anymore personal than she wanted it to be. She was great. And now I wish I could just call her up and take her out for coffee or something. We talked for hours. It felt like we had known each other for years. And she is so much more than a pretty face, I can tell from talking to her, she is smart. And single."

"You met a hot woman, from New York who was nice and smart and good in bed and single? An you let her get away?"

"I know. I have been kicking myself all day about it."

"So did you talk to Cragen?"

"Not since last night when I told him I probably wasn't going to make it in because I was stranded in Chicago. Why?"

"Word is they go you a new partner."

"Great. I wonder what's wrong with this guy?"

"There wasn't nothing wrong with the last guy until you knocked his front tooth out."

"He was an ass."

"He was an ass."

"And he cost us the case. There is a rapist out there who will never be charged because of him."

"I didn't say I thought it was wrong for you to hit him. I don't know how you went that long before slugging him. The man was a cocky son of a bitch."

"At least we agree on something," Elliot laughed as he wheeled his chair across the room to four himself a cup of coffee.

Twenty minutes later as he sat at his desk, Fin came to him with a question about something in his report. As the two men discussed the document, Elliot heard a familiar voice. He raised his eyes to see the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Fin," he whispered and nodding in her direction as she walked into the room.

"Wow," Fin said as his mouth fell open. "Nice."

"No Fin, that's her."

"Her, her. The girl from last night? That her?"

"Yes, that her. That is her."

"You're right, she is very attractive."

"She's amazing."

"Go talk to her," Fin said elbowing Elliot.

"I don't even know what to say."

"You're beautiful. I'm in love with you. I want to marry you and make a dozen little Stabler babies."

"Shut up," Elliot laughed.

"Seriously, go talk to her. At least ask her name. How did she find you anyway?"

"I don't know."

Fin stood up and straightened Elliot's tie.

"Go get her, tiger."

Elliot laughed and stood up from his chair. He stood there for a moment watching as she spoke to someone across the room. The man pointed and she thanked him. But Elliot couldn't move. He watched as she walked across the room and entered Cragen's office.

"What was that?" Fin asked.

"I don't know. She didn't even notice me. Before I could say anything she walked into Cragen's office."

As they stood there talking the door to Cragen's office opened once more. Fin and Elliot stood quietly as Cragen walked out with the dark haired beauty.

"Elliot, I'd like you to meet Olivia Benson," he said looking in Elliot's direction. "Detective Benson is going to be your new partner."

"Enter Juliet," Fin said as he crossed his arms in front of him and sat on the edge of Elliot's desk.


	3. 3 Badass Benson

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Three: Badass Benson)_

Elliot watched as she nervously pressed her lips together. It was obvious this was a bit uncomfortable for her as well. Still, standing there next to their boss and trying her damndest not to make eye contact with her new partner, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"I'll leave you two to it," Cragen said not catching the awkwardness in the air between them.

Olivia fidgeted a bit as she raised her eyes to meet his, neither of them sure what to say. Elliot stared into her pretty brown eyes until she smiled a bit and choked back a laugh.

"It's nice to meet you, Detective Benson."

She smiled as Elliot extended his hand to shake hers.

"It's Olivia. It's nice to meet you, too," she said shaking his hand.

"Welcome to Special Victims. Hope you got a thick skin, not everyone can handle this kind of work."

"Not everyone is the same," she replied. "It is never safe to make assumptions about people you don't know," she said folding her arms.

"Brains, beauty and sass," Munch said as he walked past the two of them.

Olivia smiled and laughed.

"John Munch," he said extending his hand.

"Olivia Benson."

"It's nice to meet you, Olivia Benson."

"It's nice to meet you, too."

Munch patted Elliot on the back and kept walking. Elliot looked back at Olivia and cleared his throat. This was going to be even harder than he though.

"Did Cragen show you around?" Elliot asked rubbing his hand nervously over the back of his neck.

"I saw the elevator, the coffee machine and his office."

"Alright," he said, "lets start with the tour. This is the bullpen. My desk there and yours will be the one right in front of it. There is a file room and a copy room down the hall. Restrooms are there by the vending machines. Interrogation rooms are through here," he said as she followed him around. "Holding cells there. Upstairs there is a lounge area and the cribs."

Olivia stared blankly at him.

"Just a little room with a few bunks."

"I am familiar with the term. This isn't the first time I've worked in a police station."

She was sharp and almost a little bitchy with him.

"Sometimes we get to working on cases and we don't get the luxury of going home to sleep. If you close the doors, you can usually manage to get in a couple hour nap," Elliot continued ignoring her words. "You worked homicide?"

"Yes. For just over two years."

"What made you want to make the switch to Special Victims?"

"Just needed a change, I guess."

"Oh," he replied unsure what to say to her. "Umm, back here we have our work out area. Not much, just a of bike, a couple of tread mills and some free weights. Then the locker room and showers back there."

"Ahh, okay."

Elliot watched her until she finally looked up at him.

"New job, huh? You never mentioned you were a police detective," Elliot said leaning against the wall beside her.

"You didn't tell me where you worked either. It seems we skipped over the personal details and moved on to the sex. It was a one night stand, we weren't ever supposed to see each other again."

"So, what happens now? I don't do this."

"Neither do I," she argued. "it figures the one time I would do something like this I would screw it up."

"So what happens now."

"Elliot, it was a one night stand. Great sex without the responsibility. That is it. No strings attached. It wasn't a relationship."

"The tables have kind of turned now."

"I don't see how. Look, we're partners. We work together, that's it."

"We can't pretend it didn't happen."

"We can't very well take it back. What do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know. I just….I don't know."

"Like I said, we had relations, not a relationship."

"It could be both."

Her eyes shot up to stare at his in silence for a moment.

"Are you asking me out?"

"Maybe."

"That isn't going to happen," she said as she walked toward the door.

"Why not?"

"For one, we are partners and we have to work together."

"And two?" Elliot asked with a worried look.

"I don't date."

"You don't date?"

"No, I don't."

"That is the best you can do?"

"We should get back to work."

"Olivia?"

"Elliot?"

"What is the problem? I mean, you. And acting like you are all pissed off at me."

"I'm not pissed off at anything."

"What is with the front? We talked that night. We might have forgotten to mention a lot of useful information and made a few not so responsible decisions, but we can't even seem to manage a civil conversation now. Look, Liv, we're partners now. That means that you and I are going to be spending a lot of time together. I would like for us to get along. Be friends, even."

"It is just all a little strange, don't you think? You spend an amazing night with someone that you don't think you will ever see again. We didn't even exchange names. Nothing after the moment I got into that cab was supposed to happen. This is all a big mess."

"Are you saying you regret it?"

"I'm saying that it was great while it lasted. But it is over now. And you and I have to find a way to accept that and move on. Just forget it ever happened."

"I don't know if I can ever forget it," Elliot mumbled.

"We have to. If people here find out….I don't want to be looked at like Detective Stabler's whore. It would be better if no one knew what happened that night."

"About that, Fin kind of already knows."

"You told Fin about us?"

"When I came back I told him I met someone. I had no idea you would walk in here an hour later. I didn't know we were going to be working together when I told him it was you I was with."

"I still can't believe you told him."

"I didn't give him any details and if I had known we would end up partners I never would have said anything about it."

"Great."

"Fin is cool, he wont say anything."

"How do you know?"

"I know. Can we just start over?"

"Start over?"

"Yeah, just go back to the way things were before it happened. When you and I were polite and friendly toward each other."

"A fresh start might be kind of nice."

"I think maybe you and I got off on the wrong foot."

"Okay, well, my name is Detective Olivia Benson and I have been assigned to be your new partner. It is really nice to meet you. I didn't catch your name," she said with a smile as she extended her hand.

"Smart ass."

They both laughed.

"Elliot Stabler," he replied shaking her hand as if they had just met for the first time. "Welcome to the Manhattan SVU."

"Thank you, Detective Stabler."

"Benson, Stabler," Cragen Barked from the other room.

"Here we go," Elliot said holding the door open for her. "Things get kind of crazy around here, but I'm sure you'll pick it up fast. He will probably run us along side Munch and Fin for a few days until he knows you are comfortable, so feel free to work at your own pace. I have never really trained anyone before, so the fact that you have a strong background as a detective really comes as a relief to me. The last guy they sent to be my partner had just made detective, he lasted about three days."

"I'm not a quitter."

"You don't strike me as one. That is good. Because sometimes that determination is all you have to hold on to in this line of work."

Olivia nodded in agreement.

"What have you got captain?" Elliot asked as they entered the bullpen.

"I have a body found in the Hudson an hour ago. M.E. says fluids are present."

"Wait, the body was found in the water and we still have fluids?" Munch asked.

"The body was wrapped in a plastic tarp and weighted down, but the area where she was dumped wasn't deep enough to completely cover the submerge the body. She couldn't have been in there more than a few hours. The tarp she was wrapped in actually preserved some of the evidence. Munch and Fin, you're on it."

"You want us to go with them?" Elliot asked.

"No, I have something else for you. Normally I would have you follow them for a few days, but with your background I thought you could handle this. It's up to you," he said looking at Olivia. "Do you want to spend the next couple of days watching the two of them work and test the water, or do you feel you are ready to take on a case of your own."

"I'm ready," she said with confidence. "I can do this."

"Jump in feet first. That is exactly why I asked for you."

"You asked for her?" Elliot asked.

"Her recommendations were outstanding. I have followed some of the cases you have worked, you really know how to get into the mind of a criminal. When I heard you were looking to relocate and interested in working special victims, I thought I would try to grab you before someone else did."

"Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity," she said with a smile as she took the file from him. "What have we got?"

"Possible domestic abuse. Kindergarten teacher has reported numerous bruises and broken bones in a six year old boy. They called the police and it has been kicked over to us. The teacher reported the mother showing signs of abuse as well. Talk to her, talk to the teacher and the kid. Find out if we need to get this kid out of the home and somewhere he will be safe."

"Yes cap," she said as Elliot grabbed the car keys.

"Outstanding recommendations?" Elliot asked looking at her as they stepped into the elevator.

"I am good at criminal profiling. I worked with the F.B.I. on a few cases to help catch serial killers and put them away. I actually trained at Quantico for a couple of years."

"You trained at Quantico to work for the F.B.I. and then ended up here?"

"Yes."

"Why? I mean if you are so good at…."

"I just got to a point where I needed something different. There were reasons, all personal. But I had a good run. I enjoyed it and thought that was what I wanted to do. But things change. Now I am doing what I want to do."

"Good for you."

She raised an eyebrow waiting for a smart comment from him.

"No, seriously. Good for you. Most people go their entire lives not knowing what they want or worse, knowing, but being too afraid to step up and take it. You knew you were ready for a change and you made it happen."

"Thank you, I think."

"But you know, profiling pedophiles and rapists may be a little harder than serial killers. It takes something different to make them tick."

"No, generally they are the same. They possess a need. A need that is filled by the rape or abuse and control of their victim. Only difference is they like their prey alive."

Elliot stared at her and smiled.

"Damn."

"What?"

"My new partner is a profiling genius, ex-F.B.I. homicide detective. I do believe you are a bit of a badass Detective Benson. Maybe a bit of an adrenaline junkie?"

"Aren't we all?"

"Touché."

Olivia smiled.

"You know when I first found out that you were going to be my new partner…."

"You were greatly disappointed because I wasn't a man?"

"Not at all. I was actually a little relieved. Nervous, but relieved because I thought that you and I seemed to be a lot alike. But the more I talk to you I am realizing that infact we are almost polar opposites. Perhaps that explains the chemistry between us. As partners, I mean. We seem to balance each other out."

"I guess you're right," she admitted.

"I think we are going to be just fine," Elliot said as he started the car.


	4. 4 You Are Not Alone

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Four: You Are Not Alone)_

"Hey," Olivia said placing small gift bag on the desk in front of Elliot ad she draped her jacket over the back of her office chair.

"What is this?" he asked looking into the bag. "It isn't my birthday, you know?"

"It isn't much. Just a little something."

"We've been partners one day and already you are bringing me gifts? I could get used to this."

Elliot pulled the tissue from the bag and pulled out the item inside.

"It's a tooth brush," he said giving her a strange look.

"To replace the one I contaminated at the scene of the crime," she joked.

"You didn't have to do this," he said with a smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"So, have you heard anything else on our case?"

"Yes, DHS placed the boy with an estranged grandmother until we can get this straightened out. We offered to give her the number to a shelter, but she refused to go. She can't get her son back until we can get her away from the husband."

"That sounds smart."

"How is this justice? She is a victim too, Elliot. So lets take her kid away."

"Look, if she wants to stay there and let the man beat her senseless, that is her choice. Our job is to protect that kid."

"Well, the kid is protected. But that doesn't make this suck any less."

"Liv, sometimes we have to do things we don't like to make the best of a situation. We can't stop the mother from staying with her husband. But we can protect that little boy by placing him in a safer home. That is all of the justice we can provide in this case. It isn't fair and it isn't pretty, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices to save the what victims we can."

"Right. We do it and move on like nothing ever happened. Move forward and don't look back. Never look back."

"Sometimes the truth is hard to accept. That woman chose to stay with her abuser and give up her son rather than move away with her child to a safer place, but there is nothing we can do about it."

"I know," she said softly.

"But this is still pending a court hearing."

"What good will that do?"

"If the court charges him, he is looking at up to two years in jail for hitting his son. Even if the mother doesn't cooperate. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed until Casey comes back and lets us know what the ruling was."

"Yeah. I just feel for the kid."

That afternoon as they were leaving the courthouse after the final decision, Elliot realized he had for got to ask Casey something.

"You go ahead," he said handing Olivia the keys to their squad car, "I'll be out in a minute."

"Alright," she said taking the keys and heading out the car.

"She's beautiful," a man said from across the hall as Elliot turned to look at him.

"Pardon me?"

"She you're new partner?"

"Yeah. For a couple of weeks now."

The man was an attorney Elliot recognized from around the building. His name was David something and he was often defended some of the slime ball perps they faced off against in court.

"She's hot. Have you had her yet?"

"Excuse me?" Elliot asked in a stern voice not liking the way this chump was talking about his partner.

"Everyone else probably has."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"She has a thing for cops."

"You knew her when she worked homicide?"

"Everyone _knows_ her. All of the men anyway."

"Exactly what are you trying to say here?"

"Well, you have been to bed with her, right? That is her M.O. she sleeps with you and then drives you away by telling you that she doesn't date. She may not date, but that girl gets around."

"Shut up!" Elliot growled grabbing the man by his suit jacket and slamming him against the wall. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Maybe you're right," the man said. "I guess she could have changed in the couple of weeks she has been paired up with you."

"She is a cop. A good cop and what she does or doesn't do in her personal life is no concern of yours."

"Alright, man. But don't say I didn't warn you. She will tear you up and spit you out. Then she will move on to her next unsuspecting victim. That woman is a damn black widow spider."

"You stay away from her," Elliot said pointing at the man as he backed away and headed for the door. "Do you hear me? You stay away from her!"

"No problem," the man said shaking his head.

Elliot was so distracted my the man's comments he forgot all about talking to Casey. He climbed into the car and closed the door behind him.

"Everything alright?" Olivia asked from the driver's seat.

"Huh?"

"Did you find Casey?"

"Uhh, no. She was busy. I'll just talk to her later."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're just acting a little strange is all. Maybe we should get some lunch?"

Elliot looked at her for a moment as he exhaled. This jerk would have just been trying to get under his skin.

"That sounds good," he said trying to clear his mind for the poisonous thoughts the man had put into it.

_**SIX WEEKS LATER….**_

"Did they say what was going on?" Olivia asked as Elliot parked the car in front of a house in Queens.

"Yeah, the man inside is holding the wife and kid hostage."

"There is a child in the house?" she asked as they climbed out of the squad car. "Did you call a hostage negotiation team?"

"We did ma'am, about twenty minutes before we called you guys. They aint here yet."

"Why did you call us?" Elliot asked.

"With the kid inside we weren't sure if we should kick it over to you. But the woman said he raped her. She was crying and screaming. He said he would kill them both if we came in. She asked for the detective by name."

"What detective?" Elliot asked.

"She asked for you, Detective Benson. Said you were the only one who would help her."

"She knows you," Elliot said looking over at her. "Do we have an ID on anyone inside?"

"The landlord says the home was rented to a Randal Price."

"Randal Price," Olivia mumbled shaking her head. "It sounds familiar, but I don't know anyone by that name."

"They said he moved in alone, no word of a wife or a kid."

Elliot and Olivia walked up the steps to and into the closed off front porch area.

"Are you sure there is no one else inside?" Elliot asked the officer standing beside the front door of the home.

"Yes, Detective Stabler. The woman confirmed they were the only three inside. We have the place surrounded and we are just holding on the hostage negotiators to get here."

"I want to give Detective Benson the chance to talk to them," Elliot suggested.

"She isn't trained to handle this sort of thing."

"She is trained for more than you think. And the victim asked for her by name. Maybe she can talk him down."

"What if she just pisses him off?"

"If she keeps him talking then maybe she can keep his mind off hurting people. At least until your team arrives."

The man looked at another officer and nodded his head.

"I got something," another officer said closing his cell phone as he approached them. "The wife's name is Sylvia Price. She and her four year old son…."

"Hunter," Olivia mumbled as she raised her eyes to look at Elliot.

"Hunter Price," the man said nodding his head, "they are both inside. Husband just got out of jail. No weapons registered under his name, but the wife has a 9 mm hand gun registered to her. That could be the weapon he has inside."

"How do we want to do this?" Olivia asked looking over at Elliot.

"See if you can get him to let you speak to her. If we can keep her talking we know she is okay. Ask about the boy."

Olivia nodded as she combed her fingers through her hair.

"How far out is the team?" Elliot asked the officer.

"There was a wreck on the Queensborough bridge holding them up. They are still at least ten minutes out. I can get someone on the phone to walk her through this."

"Step outside and make the call. I have my phone on silent. Have him call me and I will pass the information on the her. I need all of these officers outside. He has got to trust her. If we can't establish trust, we can't deal."

"I will see what I can do."

Elliot leaned against the wall on one side of the door as his partner leaned against the wall on the other. The both drew their weapons, just in case. Elliot looked at her across the door frame.

"You ready?" he whispered.

Olivia nodded as she tapped lightly on the door.

"Go away!" the man inside shouted as they could hear the woman crying in the room with him.

"Mr. Price? It is Detective Benson. I just want to make sure everyone is alright."

"You see what you did bitch," he shouted and they could hear him slap the woman. "You called the fucking cops?"

"I didn't, I swear," she cried and Olivia could tell she was horrified.

"She didn't call us, Mr. Price. Authorities were alerted by a neighbor making a noise complaint. Can you send out your wife and son so that we can talk uninterrupted?"

"I'm not sending anyone out, you stupid cop bitch!"

"Then why don't you put down your weapon and let me come in and talk to you? I can help you if you let me."

Elliot's head shot up as he stared wildly at her. This was not a move by the books.

"What the hell are you doing?" he whispered.

"If I can get inside I can tell how badly they are injured."

"If you go in there he will kill you."

"I can't help them very well from out here. I need to know what is going on inside."

"You are not going in there."

"Nobody is coming in and no one is coming out," the man growled in response.

"Sylvia, it is Olivia Benson," she said ignoring Elliot. "I need to know if you're alright."

They listened for a moment and could hear Sylvia crying.

"Sylvia?"

"I'll be alright. But he…"

"Not another word," Roland Price shouted and hit his wife again. "Shut up bitch or I will shoot you now!"

"We have to do something Elliot," Olivia said as he studied the look in her eyes. "We can't wait for the team to arrive. He'll kill her before then."

Elliot could hear the man on the cell phone yelling at them not to make a move until the team arrived. He sat the phone beside him on the porch and nodded as he stood up. Just then he noticed Fin and Munch approaching them.

"You guys go around back and get into position. We have to get inside, we can't wait any longer."

Elliot picked up his cell phone and disconnected the call. Fin slipped his phone from his pocket and called Elliot's.

"Let me know when you are ready," Elliot said as watching the two men as they walked down the steps and disappeared around the side of the house. "Are you ready?" Elliot asked Olivia.

"Yes. We have to watch out for the little boy," she said leaning over to peer between the curtains on the living room window. "He's taking her into the back room of the house. Looks like a utility or laundry room, maybe. But I can't see Hunter."

Olivia pulled out the tools she had gotten from on of the officers out front and began to pick the front door lock.

"Randal has the wife in the back of the house, but we don't have a location on the four year old. Keep an eye out and be careful," he related to Fin over the phone. "Are you ready?"

"We're ready," Fin answered. "Munch has the side kitchen door unlocked. Officers are in place at the back door off the utility room incase he decides to run."

Elliot looked over at Olivia and nodded his head.

"I'm in," she said softly pushing the door quietly open as far as the chain lock would let her.

"On three. One, two, three," Elliot counted down and Olivia kicked the door busting the chain and allowing them entry from the front of the house.

Cautiously the proceeded in through the living room with weapons drawn, searching inside every closet and behind every sofa hoping to find the little boy hiding. Olivia turned her attention for a moment to the window across the room as a group of uniformed officers swarmed around the house once more.

She turned her head and watched as Fin and Munch made their way into the living room where she and Elliot stood. Elliot looked at them and pointed to the partially opened door down the hall.

"We should go around to that back door," Fin whispered. "If we can enter that back door maybe we can flush him out this way and you can grab him. Might be our only shot," Fin whispered.

"We still have no idea where the kid is," Elliot answered. "We need to get control of that weapon as quickly as we can. Liv and I will stand here. You guys go around and come in the back. We'll grab him when he comes out."

Fin nodded as he and his partner exited the house.

"Here we go," Elliot whispered to Olivia.

The listened as the door was kicked in and heard a gunshot. Elliot stepped around the corner as the utility room door opened and Randal Price ran toward them.

"Stop right there," Elliot demanded as Olivia stepped in behind the man and tackled him forcing him to the ground. "You have the right to remain silent," Elliot began reading the man his rights as Olivia cuffed him.

They stood the man up and handed him off to officers. Olivia stood up and brushed off her black slacks as she walked toward the back of the house.

"Olivia wait," Fin said trying to stop her. "It's not good."

Olivia felt the tears rising in her eyes as she drew a deep breath.

"He killed her?"

"I'm afraid so," Fin said looking down at the floor. "The kid too," he said softly.

"God," she said softly as she made her way to the utility room to survey the damage.

Inside, Sylvia laid slumped against the wall with a single gunshot wound to the temple. In the far corner of the room laying on the floor was the body of four year old Hunter Price.

Olivia flinched a little as Elliot placed his hand against her shoulder.

"This is all my fault," she said softly as tears streamed down her face.

Before Elliot could say anything she took off out the back door into they yard behind the house. Elliot looked up and Fin nodded at him.

"We've got this," Munch said as he and his partner began to process the scene.

Elliot walked out the back door and out across the yard to the spot where his partner was doubled over by the fence. As he approached her he could see that no only was she crying, but she was also throwing up. Elliot knelt beside her and held her hair back as he rubbed her back.

"It's always rough the first time," he said trying to think of some way to comfort her. "but after a while you get hard and it gets a little easier."

"This is supposed to be easy?" she sobbed. "I worked homicide for two years. I have seen bodies and crime scenes much worse than this one. I should be able to handle this."

"Not everyone can handle the kids. This is never easy, Olivia. I'm not going to lie to you. It never gets easy to deal with the mortality of children. But I have seen something in you these past few weeks. I have seen the way you work with victims, you really reach them and they trust you. You make them feel safe again."

"If I had never interfered, this never would have happened. It is my fault that little boy is dead."

"Let's get out of here," Elliot said as she stood up to look at him.

"What about them?" she asked looking over her shoulder at the crowd gathering around the crime scene.

"Munch and Fin can handle that circus. I think you could use a little break."

Olivia nodded as she followed him to the squad car. She leaned her head against the window staring out at the city around her and Elliot just drove. After a while he parked the car in front of her apartment building. He got out and walked around to open the door for her.

"What are we doing here?" she asked as she stepped out of the car.

"I thought we could go inside and talk about this. Unless you'd rather go somewhere else?"

"This is fine," she said and he followed her up to her apartment.

Inside Olivia moved to her bedroom to change clothes and take a quick shower to get cleaned up. A few minutes later she returned and took a seat beside him on the sofa.

"I looked everywhere, but found no hard liquor."

Olivia laughed.

"I'm not a big drinker."

"I did, however, find a couple of beers."

"I didn't mean to ditch you and be a bad hostess. I just wanted to brush my teeth and wash the vomit out of my hair. This has been a completely humiliating experience."

"Don't feel humiliated. I have had a few cases that got to me like that."

"And you threw up in front of twenty other cops at a crime scene?"

"Okay, maybe not like that. But I have seen a few that have made me sick."

"Have you ever been responsible for a child's death?" she said with tears rising once more behind her pretty brown eyes.

"Liv, none of this was your fault."

"It was. If I had just stayed out of it, if I had just left things alone…."

"What are you talking about?"

"After Roland price went to jail for the assault, DHS told Sylvia that she could only get her son back if she agreed not to have Hunter around Roland again. So she filed for divorce and got her own place. But the judge still wasn't sure they should place him back with his mother. Sylvia came to me and I felt really bad for her and for Hunter. She and her attorney asked me to testify on her behalf in court. They wanted me to tell the judge that I thought she was fit to have her son back. I really thought she was."

"You couldn't have known she would go back to him."

"He beat his son, Elliot. And I helped give that little boy back to the man who eventually beat him to death. That woman was troubled and I didn't see it. I wanted so badly to believe her when she said she would never let him around her son again. I let myself get emotionally mixed up in this and I lost my head." She pulled her knees to her chest and stared at him for a moment. "I'm sure I embarrassed you as well."

"So, badass Benson has a sensitive side. Why would I find that embarrassing? It only means that you're human. You have a heart, Olivia and that is part of what makes you so good at this job. You are the heart of the SVU. That need that you have to help everyone you meet, that is what sets you apart from the rest of us. You are a damn good cop."

"Thanks, El. But I'm not so sure that Cragen is going to agree with you on that. He is going to be pissed."

"You did everything you could do to help Sylvia Price and her son."

They sat and talked for a couple of hours until Elliot had her laughing and smiling again.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"A little. Thank you."

"That is what friends and partners are for. It's getting late," he said sitting his empty beer bottle next to the six others on the coffee table in front of them. "I should get going and let you get some rest."

"Elliot," she said softly as he stood to go.

"Yeah?"

"Look, I know this sounds strange and I don't mean anything by it, but…. Can you stay?"

"Stay?"

"I don't mean like sex or anything. It has just been a really rough and long day and don't want to be alone."

"Olivia," he said softly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "you're not alone."

He reached out and wrapped his arms around her hugging her.

"If you want me to stay, I will stay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But you have got to promise you aren't going to try to get me to have sex with you."

Olivia laughed.

"It will be hard, but I'll try," she said with a smile as he followed her to the bedroom.

That night Elliot slept with her curled up beside him. She stirred a bit for a while, probably having a bad dream, but she didn't wake up. He scooted closer to her and laid his arm over her waist.

"I'm right here Liv," he whispered against her ear.

She moaned softly and sighed as she placed her hand over his and settled again.

The next morning Elliot awoke before she did. He slipped his arm out from under her and gently kisses the back of her head. He sat up and stretched, then made his way to the bathroom just off her bedroom. As he stood at the sink and washed his face and hands, something caught his eye. He reached into the trash can beside the sink and picked up the small pink and white cardboard box that had once contained a pregnancy test.


	5. 5 Secrets

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Five: Secrets)_

Elliot smoothed his hands over his face trying to think straight. He sat on the edge of the bed for a moment to watch her sleep. This was way more than he had bargained for when he picked up a beautiful woman in a bar for a night of steamy hot sex. He exhaled deeply and walked down the hall picking up her keys off the kitchen counter and headed out the door.

An hour later Elliot unlocked the door to her apartment to find Olivia standing in the kitchen.

"There you are," she said shooting him a smile from across the room.

"Yeah, I just took a little walk to clear my head."

"I made coffee," she said pouring him a cup and sliding it across the counter to him. "Do you take cream or sugar?"

"Black is fine," he said taking a sip of the dark liquid, "thank you."

"You're welcome. I have…." she opened the cabinets to offer him something to eat, "a packet of instant oatmeal, a banana and….one egg," she said staring into the refrigerator.

"I'm good, thanks."

"You sure?" she asked holding up the oatmeal packet, "it's apple cinnamon?"

Elliot smiled.

"You go ahead. I am not much of a breakfast person."

"Alright, but you don't know what you're missing."

Elliot watched her, trying to think of what to say to her. Should he ask her about the baby or just wait until she came to him about it? And if what that man at the courthouse said about her was true who's to say this baby even was his?

He tipped his head and studied the curve of her nose and the softness of her eyes. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. If she really was pregnant, as much as it could really complicate things between him and his new partner, a big part of him really hoped this baby was his.

"What?" she asked as he realized he had been staring at her.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Then why have you been staring at me for the last ten minutes?"

"No reason," he said with a smile. "Just admiring a beautiful woman."

"Nice," she laughed as she took another drink of her coffee.

"We'd better get going or we'll be late for work," Elliot said sitting his empty coffee mug on the counter.

"Actually, I am off today. I took a personal day."

"Ahh, you got any big plans for your personal day?"

"Umm, you know, just stuff." She looked at him hoping he would leave it at that. "Personal things."

"Yeah. Well, I'd better get going then. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, have a good day at work."

It was a long and boring day at work for Elliot, the kind of day he almost wished something exciting would happen to pull him from behind his computer monitor and give him something to do. He wasn't getting much work done anyway, all he could think about was Olivia and the _personal _things she had to do on her personal day.

He imagined she had probably made a doctor's appointment to verify that there was infact a baby. Surely she wouldn't want to approach him with news this big and this life altering if it was a false alarm. But she couldn't exactly tell him her reason for going to the doctor without telling him that she might infact be carrying his unplanned miracle child.

Miracle, he thought to himself. As scary and unexpected as this pregnancy was, that was exactly what this baby would be, their little miracle. Miracle, mainly because if fate hadn't placed the two of them on the same cancelled flight, they would have never met or spent the night together in the hotel room and this baby would not exist. Assuming, of course that a baby did exist.

But this baby was a miracle in more ways than one. Elliot really hadn't planned on having anymore children after the twins were born. Then when things didn't work out with Kathy and she moved the kids to Chicago, he really didn't think there would ever be a chance of him having a real family again. Maybe this was his second chance.

The more he thought about it the more it seemed fate really had a sense of humor. Surely Olivia hadn't planned on getting pregnant that night they spent together making love. They had used nearly half a dozen condoms and yet somehow there was still at least a chance that one of them didn't work.

"Elliot, you got a call on line two," Fin called from across the room.

This was it, he thought to himself. She must be calling to tell him that she has something she needs to talk to him about or wants to meet for dinner, something like that.

"Stabler," Fin repeated as Elliot looked in his direction, "line two."

"I got it," he replied picking up the receiver and pushing the flashing button. "Stabler…." he listened for a moment as a man's voice spoke. "What?….Is she okay?….No, please don't do that. I apologize for the trouble, I can be there in ten minutes. Thank you for calling me. I am on my way," he said hanging up the phone unable to believe what the man had just said to him.

Elliot grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. A few blocks away he pulled over in front of a church and parked in the fire lane behind a squad car that was already on the scene. He climbed out of the car and shook his head as their eyes met. There sitting on the steps in a sunny yellow dress with her hair and make up fixed perfectly his partner sat handcuffed to the banister.

"She said she worked with you. I thought I would give you a call before we took her in."

"You cuffed her to the banister? Why would you handcuff her?"

"We responded to a call about a woman violating a restraining order. When we tried to cuff her she assaulted my partner. Resisting arrest. I figured I would give you a heads up and the chance to come down here and sort all of this out before I had to book her. I cuffed her to the rail until you got here or she calmed down, whichever happened first."

Elliot looked at the annoyed look on Olivia's face.

"Uncuff her, she wont cause anymore trouble." Elliot watched as the man took the key to the handcuffs from his pocket and freed her. Beside Olivia on the steps was a small red gift bag. "Come on," he said as their eyes met, "let's go for a ride."

Olivia stared at him for a moment then picked up the bag and walked down the steps to the car as Elliot held the passengers side door open for her. There was silence for miles as Elliot just drove around for a while waiting for her to explain her actions, but she didn't offer anything up.

He could tell by her posture and the look on her face that she was so angry and humiliated she was about to break down and cry. He wanted to encourage her to talk to him. He wanted to demand an explanation. But he didn't want to bully her into explaining this to him.

For nearly an hour they drove around in silence. She sat with her thin white sweater draped over her lap and the little red bag between them, not saying a word as she stared out the window. Finally, Elliot gave up and just drove to his apartment.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he parked and stepped out of the car.

"I'm going inside. You coming?"

Olivia stared at him for a moment as Elliot shrugged his shoulders and closed the car door. He started across the third level of the parking garage toward the elevator as Olivia climbed out of the car.

"You're not gonna take me home?"

"I'm going to find something to eat," he answered pushing the button as the elevator doors opened.

Olivia exhaled and followed him to the elevator. She gripped the string to the red bag tight in her fist as she stared straight ahead and avoided eye contact with him. Inside the apartment Olivia seated herself on the sofa and placed the bag neatly on the coffee table in front of her.

"I'm gonna order a pizza. That sound alright to you?"

She looked up at him and nodded as Elliot dialed the number and placed the order. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a couple of cans of cola, handing one to her.

"So, you wanna tell me exactly why you were just arrested?" he asked, sick of the silent treatment he was getting from her.

Olivia raised her eyes to meet his, but didn't speak.

"Let me guess, that is personal, too."

"Elliot…."

"No. That officer had you in handcuffs about to put you in a squad car and take you downtown for booking. He only called me because we're old poker buddies. What the hell is going on with you?"

Olivia stared at him with tears in her eyes, but didn't respond.

"Look, I get that you do things your own way. Hell, I even admire it. And I get the whole black sheep of the SVU thing. But getting arrested? Are you trying to throw away your career? You're just lucky it was me and not Cragen that came down there to get you."

"You don't understand."

"No, Olivia, I don't understand. I don't understand, because you don't ever talk to me. You are so full of secrets!"

"What are you talking about?"

Elliot made a growling sound as he made his way to the refrigerator for a beer, coca cola just wasn't cutting it anymore. Elliot took a deep breath as he took a drink of his beer.

"The pregnancy, Olivia," he said turning to see the look of shock on her face. "Where you even going to tell me about the baby?"

She sat there for a moment with her jaw slightly open staring at him.

"Yes."

"When, exactly?"

"When I decided what I was going to do about it," she said softly pressing her lips together.

"So you're not planning on keeping it?"

"That isn't what I meant."

"What did you mean?"

"Elliot, give me one good reason we should have a baby together."

"I know this wasn't exactly planned and it is a bit of a shock. But there is a baby inside of you, Olivia. A living, breathing baby. My baby, our baby."

"Elliot, we barely know each other. I didn't even know how you liked your coffee until this morning."

"We will work it out. None of that matters. How can you even consider killing this baby or just giving it away to strangers to raise?"

"Elliot, I'm not considering giving the baby up. And I am completely against abortion. I didn't tell you…." she exhaled slowly. "I didn't tell you yet because I needed a little time to let it sink in, to let it be real. This is real." She sat quietly for a moment then looked over at him. "How did you….?"

"I saw the box from the test in the bathroom trash can this morning. It is the only thing I could think about all day."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I really thought about it last night, but things were so….so…."

"Yeah. What happened today? That officer said you violated a restraining order."

"It's a long story," she said shifting her attention to the bag on the table.

"Well, we have all night and I am a really good listener," Elliot said as the door bell rang. "And dinner is served."

Olivia smiled as he moved across the room to buzz the delivery guy up. She didn't know how, but Elliot always seemed to have a way of making even the worst days better.

"Here we go," he said sitting the box on the table beside the red bag. "I'll grab some napkins and a couple of plates. Do you need a fork?"

"You eat pizza with a fork?"

Elliot smiled.

"That's my girl."

Olivia laughed as she opened the lid on the cardboard box.

"Alright," Elliot said handing her a plate as she put a slice of beef and cheddar with pepperoni on each plate. "Okay," he said as they settled into the sofa facing each other, "I'm listening."

Olivia sat her plate on the coffee table and wiped off her mouth.

"I don't even know where to begin. But it isn't as bad as it looks."

"There wasn't really a restraining order?"

"There was….there is."

She watched as he moved aside the tissue and looked inside.

"It's a fire truck," he said picking up the bag from the coffee table and looking inside. "Liv," he said reading the tag, "who is Nicky?"

Olivia smiled and combed her fingers through her hair.

"My son."

"Your son? You have a son?"

"I do," she said softly. "I married young, I was barely twenty. Things were wonderful for a while. David swept me off my feet and made me feel like I was the only woman in the world. But eventually the new wore off and everyday life took its toll on us, I guess. Long story short, David had an affair. I stayed until I walked in on them in our bed and neither of us could deny it any longer, then I packed my things and left. On the fourth day of being on my own, I took a pregnancy test and verified that I was infact pregnant with his child. Our child. Our son."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah. I didn't think I could raise a baby alone and David said all of the right things to….make it better or so I thought. I moved back in and we had three fairly good years together. One night he came home late and he had been drinking. We had an argument and he hit me."

"He hit you?"

"I don't mean just slapping me around. He beat me. I was bruised for days, he busted my lip and blacked my eye."

"Liv, I am so sorry."

"The next day while he was at work I took my son and I left him."

"Good."

"Nicky and I spent two days in a hotel room before David canceled my credit cards and cut me off from the bank account. I had a two year old, no money and nowhere to go. I spent the next four days in a shelter with my little boy."

"Did you go back?"

"No. David filed for divorce. He got a attorney friend of his to say I was unfit because I was living in the shelter with my son. He took my baby away from me," she said as a tear slid down her cheek.

"What moron judge would agree to that? They should have given you a probationary period."

"Not when my big shot attorney husband is golf buddies with the judge over the case and I am stuck with a public defender who only took the case to get his name in the papers. I lost my home, I lost my son and I lost my life that day. That was a year and a half ago. David convinced the judge that I might try to kidnap Nicky and when I showed up for my supervised visitation and the case worker wasn't there, David said I was causing trouble. That was all it took to get the restraining order to keep me away from David and my son. Later I spoke to the worker who said that David had caller her to reschedule the visit for another day."

"He set you up."

"Yeah."

"Why would he do that?"

"To hurt me. He couldn't force me to come back to him, so he did the one thing he knew would hurt me more than anything else in the world. He took my baby boy away from me. Nicky turns four today," she said softly as she wiped her cheek trying to hide her tears from him. "I just wanted to see my son. I wasn't trying to cause any trouble. I wasn't making a disturbance. I walked into the church and sat down in the back. I saw him only for a moment, in the front. David must have seen me too, because the next thing I knew those officers were asking me to step outside."

"And the assault on the officer?"

"I didn't mean to hit him. David came out and we argued and I tried to slap him, that was at the same time the officer tried to put the cuffs on me. He got in the way and I slapped him. That was when they cuffed me to the railing."

"Olivia, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Although it does explain a few things."

"Okay, its your turn. Enlighten me."

"There was a guy at the courthouse a few weeks back…."

"What guy?"

"Just a guy, I couldn't remember his name, but I knew him from around. Anyway, this guy, he saw us together coming out of court. He made a comment…."

"What kind of comment?"

"He said something along the lines of you sleep around a lot. I'm not saying I believed him, because I didn't. But it pissed me off. Olivia, that guy was David Hayes."

"My ex-husband."

"That is kind of what I figured after you told me about him. So not only does this guy want to push you away from your kid, but he wants to make sure there is no man in your life."

"El, he wants to do whatever he can to make me miserable," she said with a yawn.

"It has been a long and eventful day," Elliot said staring into her eyes as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He kissed her forehead and smiled. "I have an idea. Why don't I find you something to sleep in and we can find a movie on television and just relax the rest of the evening. You can crash here tonight and I will take you by your apartment in the morning to get dressed before work."

"Elliot, that is sweet of you, really. But my being pregnant doesn't really mean that you and I are together. I mean we still don't really know each other."

"Relax, I am just thinking that we have about….seven and a half months to get to know each other. I thought maybe we could just hang out tonight. I wont try anything, I swear. You can have the bedroom and I will sleep on the sofa."

"What are you up to?" she laughed.

"I guess I am just excited about the fact that I am going to be a father and I don't want this night to end."

"That is really sweet of you to say."

"You and I are going to be a part of each others lives for at least the next eighteen years," he said placing his hand on her nonexistent baby bump.

"Are you sure you can handle me for eighteen years?"

"I think we will be just fine," he said locking his fingers in hers and kissing her hand. "I promise you that above all else, my family comes first. And that includes you and this baby."

"It does?"

"Of course it does. You are the mother of my child, my partner and my friend. I am always going to be here for you, Olivia."

"Elliot, I am all for the friendship. And I want you to be as big a part of this baby's life as you want to be, I will never keep this kid from you. But I don't want to date you. I just think that it would complicate things even more. I think that maybe we are better off just being friends."

"I'm cool with that," he said forcing a smile. Those were not exactly the words he wanted to hear her say, but at least they were working things out.

Elliot got her some clothes and she took a shower. Afterward Olivia joined him on the sofa to watch a movie he rented on pay per view. Several hours later Elliot woke up on the sofa with the glow of the TV lighting the room and Olivia curled up sleeping in his arms. He smiled and kissed the curve of her neck as she moaned softly. Part of him still thought all of this was too good to be true. Elliot pushed the power button on the remote control and settled back in against her for the night.


	6. 6 A Covert Affair

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Six: A Covert Affair)_

Elliot leaned stood on the steps of the courthouse eating sunflower seeds and spitting the shells into the planter beside the building. He had been standing here on this cold New York fall morning for hours now just waiting people to start rushing out. He checked his watch again and made his way down the steps and across the street for a third cup of coffee from a street vendor.

"Another one Detective?"

"Yes, please," Elliot said stuffing a handful of one dollar bills into a tip jar.

"You been standing over there all day. You running a surveillance or something?"

"Something like that. There is a man inside I really need a few words with."

"You gonna arrest him?"

"Not today, Jimmy."

"Well, I hope you get what you been waiting for," the man said as he handed Elliot a paper cup with steam rolling off the top.

"Yeah, so do I."

"You want a little something to go with that?" the man asked pointing to a basket of prepackaged cheese danish next to the cash jar.

"No thanks, I'm trying to cut back," Elliot replied patting his hands against his stomach as the man laughed. "Try and stay warm, Jimmy. It's supposed to get pretty cold this week."

"Will do, Detective."

Elliot waved to the man as he made his way back to his post and prepared to wait some more. It was almost two hours later when the crowd of people began to file from the courthouse. The sharp dressed high profile lawyer stepped out with a shit eating grin on his face as he stopped to speak for a moment and put on a show for the cameras.

Elliot watched, shaking his head as the man worked the circus of reporters that swooped in for their turn at shoving a microphone in the man's face and Elliot knew that the cocky son of a bitch must have won his case. By the look on his face, he was used to winning.

"David Hayes?" Elliot asked offering the man his hand as the last of the crowd disappeared.

"Yes, detective. How can I help you?"

"I was wondering if maybe I could buy you a cup of coffee?"

"I don't drink coffee," the man said attempting to blow him off.

"Lunch then," Elliot said as the man turned to walk away. "You have to eat."

"Detective…."

"Stabler, Elliot Stabler," Elliot said offering his hand again.

"What exactly is it you think I can help you with?"

"All I want is twenty minutes of your time. Just talk to me. Let me buy you some lunch so that we can sit down for a few minutes and talk."

"This is about Olivia?" David asked.

"It is."

"Did she send you here?"

"She doesn't know I'm here."

The man looked down at his watch then looked around the courthouse steps.

"I have to be back in court for another case in an hour. Twenty minutes is really all I can spare."

"Thank you."

The men walked across the street and down a few blocks to a café where the detectives would often grab a quick lunch when they had to be in court.

"This place any good?" David asked.

"The cheeseburgers are the best. Homemade pie and soups. It's not bad."

"But the cheeseburger isn't why you brought me here. What's going on?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about Olivia. About the situation…."

"About the restraining order, you mean?"

"Is that really necessary? She isn't a violent person, you can't possibly think that she you try to hurt you or Nicky."

"You think you know so much. But you don't. You don't know her, you don't know me and you do not know my son. So how about you leave the parenting to me, huh?"

"I just think maybe this is a big misunderstanding. She wasn't trying to hurt anyone, that day at the church last month. She was only trying to deliver a birthday gift to your son."

"That's right, _my_ son. You don't know what is going on so why don't you just stay the hell out of it?"

"I know she is hurting. I know she misses her little boy and I know she doesn't deserve this. Can't you give her another chance? Just one chance to see Nicky?"

"Nick, doesn't want to see his mother."

"He is barely four years old. How can he possibly know enough to make that decision for himself?"

"He knows his mother abandon us. That she walked away and left."

"She left _you_, she never left her son."

"That bitch took my child and tried to keep him from me! She thought she was just going to live in a homeless shelter and raise our son there. I did what I had to do for my son!"

"She has a stable life now. A job and an apartment. What would it hurt to let her see him. All I am asking is that you give her a chance. Anything. Even if you were there to watch her with him, if you are so sure she is going to try and take him. She just wants to see her little boy."

"I think you just need to butt out and stay the hell away from me and my kid! I just went and re-filed the restraining order against Olivia, do I need to have one filed against you as well?"

"You do what you gotta do," Elliot said standing up from the table and picking up the check. "But someday your son is going to want to know why you kept his mother from his life. And someday he is going to be old enough he will learn the truth. You are not just punishing Olivia, you are punishing your child, too!"

Elliot walked in to the bullpen and tossed his suit jacket over the back of his chair.

"Where have you been all morning?" Olivia asked looking up from her computer screen to observe the disgruntled look on his face.

"I had a thing."

"A thing?"

"Yes, a thing! An errand! I took some personal time!" he snapped at her without thinking.

Olivia stared blankly at him allowing him a moment to compose himself, all the while wondering if he even realized what an ass he was being in this moment.

"Feel better, now?" she asked.

"I'm sorry. I just had something I needed to handle this morning and it didn't quite go the way I had hoped it would."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," he said sitting down and exhaling deeply. "I want to work. I want to get some work done so that I can just go home and be finished with this day."

"I'm glad to hear you're in a mood to work, because we have a ton to do to prep for this trial," she said tossing half a stack of papers onto his desk. "I'll have to admit I was a little bit pissed off when you stood me up this morning after agreeing to meet me to finish this report."

"I stood you up?"

"You for got, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, Liv. I just have so much on my mind."

"Yeah, Elliot, well I have a lot on my mind lately, too. But I still find the time to be where I need to be when people are counting on me."

"I said I'm sorry and I meant it. It completely slipped my mind."

"Cragen has been looking for you all morning. You wouldn't answer your phone and left me to cover for you, which I don't mind doing as long as I have some clue as to why I am lying to my boss for you."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that something important came up and you asked me to cover for you here until you could get back."

"Then you weren't lying. That is pretty much what happened."

"Pretty much? El, I don't like risking my job on _pretty much_. And I wont do it again."

Elliot watched as she walked away from him and disappeared into the file room. He didn't want to tell her what he was doing, there was no reason to if he couldn't help her situation. He hadn't meant to bail out and leave her to finish the report alone, now he had to find a way to make things right with her.

Elliot stood up from his desk and walked into the file room pulling the door closed behind him.

"I really am sorry. I got distracted, there was something I needed to do and I forgot I had promised to meet you here early this morning to work on this. It won't happen again."

"Elliot, now more than ever, I need to know that I can depend on you. I can't take the chance that you will get distracted and…."

"I won't. I can promise you that. Olivia, I am gonna be here every step of the way, for you and our baby. I wouldn't miss a second of this for anything in the world."

"But is this really what you want? Or just something you feel obligated to do because you happened to be the one who got me pregnant and you're trying to take responsibility?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't _want_ to be." Elliot leaned closer to her and began to whisper. "Look, I know we didn't plan this pregnancy, but that doesn't mean that have not loved this kid every second from the moment I found out about him."

"Him?"

"Or her. As long as he or she is healthy, I don't really care either way."

"Really? Most guys want boys."

"I have a son. And three daughters, so it doesn't really matter to me either way."

"I have a little boy. I don't get to see him right now, but…." she paused for a moment and looked away from him. "It would be nice to have a little girl, but little boys are nice, too."

"Yeah they are," Elliot agreed with a smile.

Olivia laughed.

"Are we okay?" Elliot asked softly.

"We're okay. Just, from now on if you need me to cover for you, please give me some kind of warning."

"Alright."

"Now lets get this paperwork done so we can both go home."

That evening as Elliot walked Olivia to her car she stopped to talk to him.

"El, I was wondering…."

"Shoot."

"What are you doing tomorrow afternoon around….one o'clock?"

"Nothing I can think of. You looking for a lunch date?"

"Kind of. I have a doctor's appointment, for the baby. I was thinking maybe you could come along….if you want to?"

Olivia watched as an ear to ear grin spread across his face.

"I would love to," he said and the excitement in his voice brought tears to her eyes.

"Umm, it is still early, so we probably wont see much. And it will be several more weeks before they can tell the sex, but we should get to hear the heart beat. The appointment is mostly exam, but my doctor will do a sonogram to make sure the baby is developing on schedule."

"I can't wait," Elliot said kissing her forehead.

Elliot closed the car door behind her and waved as she drove away.


	7. 7 Snow Angel

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Seven: Snow Angel)_

Elliot was used to her not being ready when he showed up in the mornings to pick her up for work, so he took a seat in the living room to wait for her.

"I'll be ready in a minute," Olivia called down the hall to him/

"I have been thinking….do you have any plans for the holidays?" Elliot asked.

"Elliot," she groaned as she walked down the hallway to meet him, "I just threw up about ten times, is there maybe some _other_ time we can discuss this?"

He watched as she laid back against the sofa and closed her eyes.

"Sure. I was just thinking if you didn't have any other plans for Thanksgiving, maybe we could do something?"

Olivia opened her eyes to look at him.

"You're not spending Thanksgiving with your children?"

"No, Kathy gets Thanksgiving. I get four hours on Christmas Eve and four hours on Christmas Day."

"She doesn't even give you the whole day?"

"Well, they are in Chicago. If she was still here in New York I would get them for the entire day. And every other weekend. For now, I will take what I can get."

"I can't really cook. You know that right?"

"I'll cook."

"You're gonna make a turkey?"

"I have never done it before, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I'll bet together we can figure it out. I'll make turkey and stuffing and anything else you'd like."

Olivia smiled.

"You would do that for me?"

"There isn't much I wouldn't do for you," he said kneeling to kiss her forehead. "I'm sorry this morning sickness has been so rough on you."

"I should be past it by now."

"Were you this sick when you were pregnant with Nicky?"

"Only the first few weeks. It didn't go nearly this long."

"Would you like me to make you some breakfast?"

"We're going to be late for work."

"So we're a little late. It will be alright. I want you to rest a bit and you should eat something."

"It is really sweet of you to offer, Elliot, but I can't eat anything before noon or I will just be sicker."

"It might help to get a something into your stomach."

"Maybe just some saltine crackers and water," she said softly.

"Crackers it is," Elliot replied as he made his way into the kitchen. "I have an idea," he said handing her a few crackers and watching as she yawned and closed her eyes.

He smiled as he picked up the phone to call work and tell Cragen they were both taking the morning off. He moved to the hall closet and brought back a blanket to cover her with.

"Thank you," Olivia whispered without opening her eyes.

"You're welcome," he said softly. "Liv?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you please spend Thanksgiving with me?"

"I would love to," she mumbled almost asleep.

Elliot smiled as he sat in the recliner across the room and put his feet up. It wasn't long before they were both sound asleep.

That afternoon as Olivia walked into work wrapped in a white down coat, stomping the snow off her boots.

"It's snowing again?" Munch asked looking up at her as she pushed back her faux fur lined hood and unwrapped her angora scarf.

"Yes. It is coming down so thick you can barely see a six inches in front of your face."

"We are supposed to get a lot more," Elliot said brushing snow off his shoulder hanging up his coat.

"Is everything alright," Fin asked approaching Elliot.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know….you both came in late today, I was just wondering if something was wrong?"

"Nope. We just, had a thing this morning."

"Oh. A thing. I see."

"Wait, no. Not that kind of thing."

"There are different kinds of things?"

"It wasn't a _thing_," Elliot said clearing his throat, "it was just a thing."

Fin just stared at him.

"I am more confused now that ever. In any case, I'm glad to see the two of you are getting along well."

"My partner and I get along just fine."

"Today you do," Fin laughed as he returned to his desk.

Elliot looked over at Olivia and smiled. She stood there in her white cap, holding her travel cup of hot chocolate between two white angora gloves. She was always a pretty woman, but now she had that pregnancy glow about her. A glow brought about by his child developing inside of her. She looked like an angel standing there across the room and her radiance seemed to spread to those around her. Her mere presence in a room seemed to make everything better.

"El?" she asked again as Elliot blinked and realized she had caught him staring at her.

"Can I take your coat?" he asked slipping it from her shoulders and placing it on the coat rack beside his.

"Listen," Olivia said pulling hi aside, "you have got to snap out of this….this….whatever creepy thing it is that you keep doing where you just sit around and stare at me all of the time."

"I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Well, stop that."

"Stop what exactly?"

"Looking at me like that."

"I didn't mean to creep you out. It's just…." Elliot paused for a moment and smiled a shy smile.

"What?" she asked with a smile.

"You are carrying my baby," he whispered smiling at her again.

Olivia smiled.

"And that thing about the glow, that pregnant women have a glow…."

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You definitely have a glow," he whispered.

Olivia giggled.

"Well, thank you. But you should still stop staring. Fin is the only one who knows our little secret and no one knows our _other_ little secret," she said staring down at her flat abdomen, "and things would probably be better if it stayed that way for a while."

"Alright," he agreed nodding his head. "But you know, we're not going to be able to keep our secrets much longer. There will come a day, very soon, that the truth will be more than obvious."

"Elliot, only half of the truth is going to be obvious," she replied gazing into his eyes.

"What are you trying to say? That I should keep the fact that this is also my child a secret?"

Olivia sighed and walked out of the room toward the vending machines as Elliot followed her.

"Olivia, do you not want me to be this baby's father?"

"Of course I do," she said as he followed her into the ladies room and locked the door behind them.

"Then tell me what is it you are trying to tell me. Spit it out."

"Do you realize how much trouble we could both get in?" she asked looking at him. "How am I going to explain to my boss that I let my partner impregnate me the day _before_ I started my new job? How I make him understand that neither of us had any idea that the next day we would be assigned to work together? When this surfaces," she said placing her hands on her non existent baby bump, "the shit is going to hit the fan."

"Olivia!"

"Well, it is. All hell is going to break loose and here really isn't any reason for both of us to go down with this."

"So you think I should just ignore the fact that this is my baby, my son or daughter, I'm not going to deny this baby just to keep peace at work."

Olivia just stared at him.

"Could you do it? Could you walk away from this baby for a job?"

"Elliot, don't be ridiculous!"

"No, you don't be ridiculous! Don't look at me and think that for one second I would consider giving up my rights to this child. I love this baby, Olivia. I have from the second I found out I was going to be a father. And I want to be this baby's father, one hundred percent all the way. I'm in. Look, I know that you are not used to that. You have had to do so much on your own and I know that in your life people don't stick around. You have never really had anyone there for you before. You do now."

Olivia smiled through teary eyes.

"I do, huh?"

"Yes, you do. I am here and I'm not going anywhere. You can trust me. You can depend on me. To be a friend and a father. I'm in."

"You're in. That is the most comforting thing I have heard in….well, forever. So, when we tell them….we tell them everything."

"Everything," he said kissing her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"It is past noon, I feel fine past noon. It is everything before that that's hell."

"This has been so rough on you."

"No one ever said pregnancy was easy," she said as she exhaled. "We should get back to work. And you should really work on the staring thing," she said as she walked past him and out the door.

"Olivia," Elliot said stepping out of the ladies room.

"Yeah," she said stopping to look at him.

Elliot smiled as he stared at her.

"You're beautiful."

Olivia smiled and stood there speechless.

"I stare, because you are beautiful. I can't help myself."

Olivia smiled again.

"Get to work Stabler," she said as she walked back toward her desk.

That evening as Elliot walked her down the sidewalk to her apartment, Olivia stopped for a moment and knelt to the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked from behind her.

"Fine," she said standing quickly and hitting him in the chest with a snow ball.

"Oh, it is on now!" Elliot said as he chased her down the sidewalk and across the courtyard before he caught her and wrestled her to the ground.

Olivia laughed so hard she could barely breathe as he tossed loose snow onto her. They rolled around in on the ground for a while before they found themselves laying on their backs staring up at the sky as snow fell heavily down around them.

"I love this," she said turning her head to look at him. "When the snow is freshly fallen and it is all white and fluffy. This is the best part of winter. It is so pretty. It wont be this way for long. The smog and city will contaminate it all. It will never be this pure again."

"This is New York City, I just figured the snow was that funky yellow color when it fell."

She sat up to look at him.

"No. For a little while, only for a few hours just after it falls, it is perfect. I love snow. But living here in the city, I hardly ever get to see it like this."

Elliot smiled as she fell back into the blanket of powdery white snow and Elliot watched as she began to spread her arms and feet out.

"Come on, El. You have to make one, too."

"One what?"

"A snow angel," she laughed. "Just do it. It's fun."

"Fun?" he asked as he did what she asked. "I'm freezing. It is about four degrees outside and we are rolling around on the ground like idiots. You are going to catch pneumonia."

"Smile," she said rolling her head to look at him.

"Why?"

"Because," she laughed playfully, "it makes a better angel if you smile. It is like magic. If you don't smile, it doesn't work."

Elliot forced a smile and stared at her as he made his angel in the snow. He watched as Olivia smiled, then sat up and leaned over to brush a bit of snow from his cheek. Moments later, as he stared into her eyes, he felt the warmth of her perfect lips against his. Elliot raised his hand to meet the side of her face and deepened the kiss.

Olivia opened her eyes and pulled back staring at him for a moment. She smiled and squealed as she stood up, brushing herself off.

"I have snow in my jeans!" she laughed. "And they are soaked from rolling around on the ground."

She reached out her hand to help Elliot up. As he caught his footing he pulled her back to him and kissed her again. This time several little kisses followed.

"We should get you inside before you get sick," he said placing a soft kiss against her full lips.

"Look," she said turning him to show him their angels in the snow.

"They are a little messed up in the middle," Elliot said pointing to the spot where they overlapped where she had rolled to kiss him.

"No," she insisted, "they are holding hands."

Olivia slipped her fingers between his and lead her up the front steps to her apartment. She pushed the door shut behind them and kicked off her shoes, then began to kiss him again. Elliot moved with her as they backed their way down the hallway and stumbled into the bedroom.

Olivia unbuttoned her jeans and stepped out of them. She pulled off her sweater as the tee shirt she wore underneath fell down below her waist.

"Now you," she said tugging at his belt buckle and tipping her head back to kiss him again.

"Olivia wait," Elliot mumbled between kisses, stopping her just before his pants fell to the floor.

"You don't want this?" she asked with a look of confusion.

"I do. God, I do. But not like this."

"So, you do or you don't want to have sex?"

"I want to have sex with you. But I want so much more than that," he said taking her hand in his and leading her to sit on the bed. "I this baby. I want you. I want us. A real chance at a relationship with you. I know we barely know each other, Olivia, but I really like you and I think we could really have something great if we tried. I want to have sex with you, but more than that I want to have a relationship with you."

"You do?" she asked with a smile.

"I do," he said kissing her tenderly. "And for that reason, I really think that we should take this slow. We are still getting to know each other."

"Okay, so then, what would you like to do?"

Elliot smiled/

"I thought you would kick me out."

Olivia laughed.

"You can stay. I am going to put on some dry clothes." She watched as he stood there in his soaking wet clothes. "The shower is through there if you want to get warmed up. Lay you clothes outside the door and I'll throw them into the dryer, they should be done by the time you get out."

"Thanks," Elliot said.

"How do you feel about pizza?"

Elliot smiled at her.

"Sounds good."

"Supreme? My treat."

"That sounds great, but shouldn't I be buying you dinner?"

"Think of it as an apology for my trying to take advantage of you standing wet in my bedroom," she laughed.

"Hey, I didn't say I didn't want you to take advantage of me. I would just like a rain check, that's all."

Olivia stepped forward and kissed him.

"You will get a rain check, I promise. You're not like other guys, are you?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, most guys would have just climbed into bed and not cared what happened after that."

"I told you, I'm in all the way. I don't want to hurt you or take advantage of you. I would like to coexist, peacefully together and co parent out child. If we can do that and be in a relationship that could eventually include more of that amazing sex we had the night this baby was created, that is fine by me."

"I'm not easy. I know it seems like every time you see me there is sex involved, but I had never had a one night stand until the night I met you and….well, you see how well that went. I don't sleep around. I just thought that….I mean it was you and I thought you wanted it, too. Maybe I was just reading things wrong."

"Olivia," he said brushing her damp hair back with his hand and kissing her tenderly, "you don't have to defend yourself to me. I did, I do want it. You weren't reading anything wrong. I just think it would be better if we wait until we know each other a little better."

"Okay," she agreed kissing him again. "We're taking things slowly," she said with a smile. "I'm gonna start by ordering us some dinner because I am starving."

When Elliot got out of the shower his dry clothes were folded neatly on the bathroom counter waiting for him. He got dressed and joined Olivia in the living room for a pay per view movie and pizza first date.


	8. 8 Thankful

_**Be Careful What You Wish For**_

_**(Chapter Eight: Thankful)**_

_**Three Weeks Later….**_

"Is it supposed to smell like that?" Olivia asked as she turned to look at Elliot across the kitchen.

"That isn't the turkey," he said opening the oven as smoke rolled out.

"That's probably good. What is it?"

"I should have cleaned the oven. Something must have bubbled over from before."

"Oh El, that is strong," she said covering her nose with her tee shirt.

"I told you I don't cook," he said as he opened the window. "The oven hasn't been used since I moved into the apartment."

"Seriously?" she laughed.

"Seriously."

"Well, what do you say we take all of this food over to my place to finish cooking it? I can open a bottle of red wine…."

"I don't think you should be drinking in your condition."

"A glass with dinner is fine. And this is a special occasion. It is Thanksgiving. If we hurry we can watch the parade from the balcony."

"Olivia, it is four degrees outside. We could just watch the parade on television."

"So I'll make some cocoa. Come on El, it will be fun. And it will make a pretty memorable first Thanksgiving together."

"You make a good point."

Olivia smiled.

"I'll even make a homemade pumpkin pie."

"You can make pumpkin pie?" Elliot asked.

"Okay, I have never actually made one. But I looked up a recipe online and I have all of the stuff. We can cook together, make dinner together."

"Sounds like a plan," Elliot said leaning in to kiss her tenderly.

Half an hour later Elliot preheated the oven in Olivia's kitchen as she unpacked the rest of the food from the grocery bags they had used to bring it over.

"Turkey is in. What's next?" Elliot asked.

"We have a couple of hours to spare before we need to start everything else," she said handing him a mug of hot chocolate. "And the parade will be starting any minute."

Elliot smiled and helped her put her coat on as they made their way to the balcony off the living room. A thick blanket of snow covered the street below as the bands began to play. Elliot watched the magic and wonder in her eyes as she leaned forward over the railing to look down the street trying to sneak a peek at the floats that were yet to come.

"I don't see it," she said as she gazed down the block.

"See what?"

"The Bullwinkle balloon. It's my favorite. I have watched for it every year since I was a kid."

"Bullwinkle? I would have figured you to be more of a Snoopy kind of girl."

Olivia laughed.

"He is one of the oldest balloons in the parade."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You know, the very first Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in nineteen twenty four didn't even have balloons. Instead, they borrowed real live animals from the Central Park Zoo."

"Live animals on the streets of Manhattan?"

Olivia smiled.

"Originally, the huge Thanksgiving Day balloon's were released at the end of the parade. The balloons had attached address labels and the lucky people who found and returned the balloons received Macy's gift certificates for one hundred dollars."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Random useless knowledge, I guess. My brain is full of it. I was kind of fascinated by this parade when I was younger."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "This was the one thing my mother and I always did together. We weren't really close. There were so many reasons why, mostly the drinking and the fact that she left me alone all of the time so she could go to the bar. But every year, on Thanksgiving day she would cook us a Thanksgiving dinner….usually just a turkey pot pie or one of those frozen dinners, but it was turkey. And we would watch the parade together. In person, not on television. I guess in many ways this was my favorite memory from my childhood."

Elliot smiled and wiped a single tear from her cheek.

"I want to make memories like that with our baby," he said softly as he kissed her tenderly.

"So do I," she replied. "We didn't always have Christmas around my house, she usually forgot it and a birthday was just another day. But Thanksgiving….was the one thing I looked forward to all year. When David and I got married I wanted him to promise me that we would always watch the parade together with our kids. That was the one tradition I wanted to pass on to my children. He laughed at me and said it was time that I start acting like an adult. Nicky has lived in New York City his entire live and never seen a single Macy's Thanksgiving parade."

"He was such a jerk to you. I think it would be wonderful if someday we could watch the parade with all of the kids."

Olivia smiled.

"Assuming we are together….someday."

"That's right, you don't date," he laughed.

"I don't, normally. I think maybe this is a special exception."

"Thank you, for giving me this chance. I really want to make this work, Liv. I want to make you happy and raise our baby together."

"You're doing pretty good so far," she said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a cocoa kiss.

"Look," Elliot said as she turned around to look where he pointed down the street.

"I see Sponge Bob and the Energizer Bunny," she replied.

"No, look there," he said pointing as a large brown blob appeared.

Olivia smiled and he could hear the happiness in her laugh.

"Bullwinkle," she said with a smile.

Elliot hugged her tight as she locked her fingers between his. They watched the large helium moose as he made his was down the block toward them. Moments later Elliot kissed the side of her neck as he realized that their hands had been resting on the place over her abdomen where their unborn baby now lived.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Elliot whispered against her ear as she smiled.

"It is a very happy Thanksgiving."

"Well, I need to check the turkey and I do believe you promised me a pumpkin pie."

Olivia laughed.

"That I did."

Inside, Elliot turned on the television so they wouldn't miss any of the parade while they were cooking. Olivia peeled potatoes while Elliot prepared the corn on the cob.

After the parade he turned on a football game to check the score. But as the final moments of the game he had a hundred bucks riding on dwindled down, all he could do was watch her buzzing around the kitchen making the pie. He smiled as he turned off the game and moved into the kitchen.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the flour dusted tip of her nose.

Olivia giggled.

"Just open the oven for me."

"The turkey should be about ready anyway," he said pulling it out and sitting it on top of the stove as she slid the pie in. "We're good to go," he said. "I need something to carve the bird with."

"The drawer on the left," she said pointing as she pulled a serving platter from the cabinet.

Olivia set the table and lit two candles in the center.

"There," she said as she laid out the silverware.

"A little romantic atmosphere for our first Thanksgiving dinner together," he said handing her a glass of her favorite red wine and kissing her tenderly. "Hopefully the first of many to come."

"I'll drink to that," she said raising her glass. "Everything smells so good."

"Alright," he said as they seated themselves at the dinner table, "first thing's first."

"What's that?" she asked with a laugh.

"We haven't said what we're thankful for."

Olivia smiled with tears in her eyes.

"You wanna go first?" he asked.

"Umm, I am thankful for friends and family," she said with a soft smile as she placed her hand on her belly. "What about you?"

"I'm thankful for….Chicago, thunderstorms and one night stands…."

"One night stands?" she laughed. "That is an odd thing to be thankful for."

"If my ex-wife hadn't moved the kids to Chicago, I never would have gotten laid over in that airport and I never would have met you. If we hadn't had a one night stand, we wouldn't have gotten pregnant and we wouldn't be having a baby. Seeing as _you don't date _we wouldn't be sitting here having dinner together now," he said locking his fingers between hers.

Olivia laughed.

"Let me finish, I really do have a lot to be thankful for."

"I'm listening," she said leaning forward at full attention.

"I'm thankful for Chicago, thunderstorms and one night stands. For good friends and family, snow angels and homemade pumpkin pie, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and traditions, new and old. But more than anything I am thankful for my children," he said brushing a strand of her hair back and placing his palm against her abdomen, "every single one of them. And I am thankful, today and every day, that I have someone as wonderful as you in my life to share all of this with."

Olivia smiled with tears in her eyes.

"That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard," she said leaning over to kiss him.

"Now let's eat," Elliot said as she placed her napkin neatly in her lap and they picked up their forks.

That evening they curled up on the sofa together and shared a piece of homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Elliot held her against his chest with his arms tight around her as she fed him little bites from her fork and he realized that he had never before been as happy as he was in that moment.

"This is good, right?" she asked feeding him another bite of pie.

"This is perfect," he said as he stared into her eyes. "And the pie is really good, too."

Olivia laughed and kissed him as she realized exactly what he meant.

"If you're really good, maybe I'll make you another one for Christmas," she whispered.


	9. 9 Blackout

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Nine: Blackout)_

"I am so sick of snow," Olivia growled as she stared out the window beside her desk.

"Grench!" Fin called from behind her. "It's not even Christmas yet and you are trying to get rid of the snow?"

Olivia laughed as she looked at him over her shoulder.

"Hey I am all for a good dusting on the ground and a white Christmas. But it is piling up by the foot out there with no signs of stopping. That is a little bit ridiculous."

"You don't like snow?" Munch asked as he entered the room.

"I like it. In moderation," she corrected him.

"So you would prefer hundred degree heat to this?" Munch asked.

"I wouldn't go that far. I think there should be snow, the fluffy pretty kind, but no ice, from around Thanksgiving until just after Christmas. And in the summer time it should only get hot enough to swim for about a month or so. After that it should be illegal to have any more horrible heat or feet of snow!"

Elliot laughed.

"Hey, I'm with ya on that."

"What about the rest of the year?" Fin asked.

"The rest of the year the temperature should fluctuate somewhere between the sixties and eighties. No tornados, hurricanes or floods either."

"And no thunderstorms," Munch declared.

"I don't know, I kind of like thunder storms," she replied softly smiling at Elliot over her shoulder.

"In a perfect world, right?" Fin injected. "It sounds good in theory, but somehow I don't think we will get the man upstairs to agree to it."

"Probably not," she said dropping the blinds and spinning around to look at them as the snow continued to fall heavily. "But if we get much more of this the city is really going to be in trouble. There have already been so many major traffic accidents and other injuries because of the snow and ice. I like a white Christmas as much as anyone else, but this is getting a little ridiculous. It is falling faster than they can keep the roads clear and there are already people who can't even get out of their driveways because the snow is piled up so high."

"This is Manhattan," Fin said looking a bit confused, "who has a driveway?"

"You know what I mean. There are cars parked along side streets that are buried so far under the snow, the owners can't dig them out. Bus routs can't run….."

"This is New York," Munch said, "take the subway like all of the other New Yorker's."

"I'm not talking about me. I just mean the city in general. And snow for Christmas may sound like a good idea now, but too much snow and flights wont be able to get take off and land safely. People won't be able to travel for Christmas. Too much snow is not a good thing."

"Well, you'd better get used to the idea now, because we are supposed to get another ten to twelve inches tonight," Cragen said entering the room as he tossed a stack of files onto the desk in front of Elliot. "Unfortunately, the snow has not slowed down the criminals. So I need everyone on their game. Munch and Fin, get across town," he said handing Fin a slip of paper with an address on it.

"A homicide? Cap, I don't think this one is ours," Fin said as he read the age of the victim.

"Oh, it's ours alright. The deceased was a teacher at a Catholic school here in Manhattan. It seems he got a little friendly with one of his female students and got himself killed."

"He raped a kid?"

"The father says it was rape, the girl says it was consensual. Either way I want you on it."

"So daddy catches his teenaged daughter having an affair with her teacher and kills the teacher. Sounds like an open and closed case to me," Munch said leaning back in his chair and crossing his feet on his desk.

"It would be," Cragen said pushing Munch's feet from the desk forcing him to sit up, "if the girl wasn't fourteen years old and pregnant. Get down there, now!"

"We're on it," Fin said picking up his car keys as his partner followed him out the door.

"What about us?" Olivia asked staring across the room at her boss.

"Aren't the two of you supposed to be in court in a couple of hours?"

"Yes."

"Focus on that. We are going to do all that we can to keep this man from ending up back out on the streets to rape and murder someone else. The two of you need bullet proof testimonies."

"Alright," Elliot agreed as he opened the file to look over the case.

"Great. I'm starving and we are stuck here."

"We could order in."

"No one is going to deliver in this mess," she said peeking between the blinds out the window again. "And the only thing in the vending machines are chips, toxic chili dogs and four day old salad."

"I could run down to the deli on the corner. It shouldn't take too long. I can call the food in and be back in half an hour."

"Elliot, it is a blizzard out there!"

"Hey, I can't have you feeding our baby toxic chili dogs," he whispered with a smile. "What would you like to eat?"

"I'm not really sure. I have trouble making up my mind, lately," she said resting her hand against the small bulge of her belly.

"What if we both go? We can grab a booth and talk about the case. Order a couple of sandwiches and maybe some soup. We can just have a nice relaxing lunch. Or if you would rather eat somewhere else, I can run down and warm up the car."

"No, now that you mention it some of their broccoli and cheese soup sounds really good."

Elliot smiled as he held up her coat for her. They laughed and talked as they walked the block and a half to the little place on the corner and found a booth in the corner where they could have a little privacy.

Elliot laughed as Olivia ordered tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich with ranch dressing on the side. He could tell she was pregnant by the way that she changed her mind half a dozen times while ordering her lunch. He ordered his usual cheeseburger and onion rings as they opened up the file and discussed everything but the case.

"Do you have any big plans for tomorrow?" Elliot asked as she took a sip of her hot tea.

"Well, it is Saturday, so my usual. Sleep until noon, then get up and clean the apartment, do laundry and catch up on a weeks worth of cop shows I have recorded on TiVo," she replied with a smile. "I always tape the Criminal Minds marathon, even though I have seen like every episode. I can't resist."

"Ah," he said with a smile. "I am more of a Law & Order fan, myself."

Olivia smiled.

"I like them all. I watch them all. Well, record them all. You can come over and watch with me if you'd like."

Elliot smiled.

"I would love to. But first there is something I want you to do with me. It won't take long, a couple of hours. But you will enjoy it, I promise."

"You're not even going to tell me what it is?"

"Nope. It is a surprise. One I have been working on for a few weeks now and I promise you won't regret it."

Olivia smiled as she tipped her head to stare at him.

"What are you up to, Stabler?" she asked as the waitress sat their food down in front of them.

"You will have to come with me and find out," he said as she swiped an onion ring from his plate.

"I think I can spare a couple of hours," she said with a smile.

After Olivia had finished her lunch and ate half of Elliot's onion rings, he paid the check and helped her up from the booth.

"Feel better now?" he asked dropping a stack of one dollar bills on the table for a tip.

"Much better," she said smoothing her hands over her belly.

"Good," Elliot replied helping her with her coat. "I would hate for them to kick us out of court because your stomach was growling too loud for the jury to hear the case."

"Very funny," Olivia remarked holding back a laugh. "I can't help it. I am hungry all of the time."

"You are supposed to be. It's a good sign," he said kissing the tip of her nose.

Olivia couldn't help but look around them to see if anyone had seen them.

"It's okay," he said as she wrapped her scarf, "no one saw. No one can see us, I have already checked."

"We just need to be careful," she reminded him. "I don't want anything getting out until we are sure what exactly is going on here."

"What is there to be sure about?" Elliot asked holding the door for her as they stepped out into the snowy afternoon. "We are having a baby together."

"A baby that no one else even knows about. Nobody even knows we were together."

"Fin knows."

"And hopefully he has kept our little secret."

"He has."

"What if we told him?" she asked stopping on the sidewalk to watch his reaction.

"Tell him what?" Elliot asked.

"Our secret," she said pointing to her belly.

"Tell Fin about the baby?"

"Yeah."

"Why would we do that?"

"Because I know it bothers you as much as it is bothering me. Nobody knows that we are having this baby together. And Fin already knows we were together in Chicago. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone to tell our secret to?"

"It would be nice if this didn't have to be a secret anymore."

"Maybe Fin can help us think of a good way to break the news to Cragen and the others without this whole thing blowing up in our faces."

"True."

"I think it would be nice to have a friend on the inside," she said softly.

"Alright, we can talk to Fin and tell him about the baby."

Olivia smiled.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"We'd better get going. If we are late to court, Cragen will kill us."

That evening as they sat around Elliot's apartment eating Chinese food out of little paper cartons, they talked about how to tell Fin about their little bundle of joy.

"Maybe we should just invite him over for dinner," Olivia suggested, "and break the news to him."

"Don't you think he will have figured out something is going on when _we_ invite him over for dinner?"

Olivia smiled.

"I guess so. But by then it will be too late and he will have to stay and hear what we have to say."

Elliot laughed as the lights flickered and the power went out.

"What the heck?" Olivia asked looking around them at the dark apartment.

"Power must have gone out because of the storm," Elliot said picking up one of the candles from the center of the table and walking across the room to the balcony door.

"The power is out all over the city," Olivia said from behind him. "And the damn snow is still falling."

"What are you doing?" Elliot asked as she picked up her cell phone.

"I'm gonna call my neighbor and see if I have power at my apartment. It's gonna get cold fast."

Elliot watched as she disappeared down the hallway and into the bathroom. Several minutes later she returned to the living room.

"How'd it go?"

"There's no power at my place either. She said the power company said there is a blackout through most of the city because of the storm. They are working on it, but they don't think it will be back up before morning. Do you have a phone book? We could call around to hotels and see if we can find something with power."

"Calm down."

"Calm down? Elliot, we are not going to have power until morning. No power, no heat. And it is going to start getting cold in here pretty damn fast."

Elliot smiled.

"We can stay here. You can stay here with me."

"How are we going to keep warm?"

"Body heat. If we sleep close enough together we'll stay warm."

"El," she said watching as he smiled.

Olivia laughed, then Elliot laughed as well.

"I have a fire place," he confessed. "I can build a fire and we can close off the doors to the other rooms to keep the heat in here. We can pull out the sofa bed and sleep right here tonight. You thought I was just trying to get you naked, didn't you?"

Olivia laughed again.

"Something like that."

I'll behave myself, I promise," he said pressing his forehead against hers.

"Do you have candles?"

"The other one on the table and there are some in the pantry."

"This kind of sucks. I was so looking forward to soaking in a hot bath and going to bed early tonight."

"Why don't you light a few candles and pick out some of my clothes to sleep in? There should be enough hot water for you to take a bath and relax and I will get the fire going and get the bed made up in here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's only about eight o'clock. You can get in your hot bath and still get to bed early."

Olivia set candles around the bath tub and filled it full of warm water. She laid out two towels on the counter beside one of Elliot's tee shirts and an old pair of flannel pajama pants, then stepped out of her clothes. She lowered herself into the water and sighed as she closed her eyes. Not quite the same as her garden tub at home, but it wasn't bad. She laid back in the water and closed her eyes as the tired muscles of her back began to loosen up.

Twenty minutes later Olivia joined Elliot in the living room in front of the fire.

"You feel better?"

"I do," she laughed. "I am such a dork sometimes."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because," she laughed, "when I got out of the bath tub I actually looked under the sink for a hair dryer."

"Liv, I don't own a hair dryer."

"I know that now. But it wouldn't have done me any good anyway, because there is no power," she said and he began to laugh too.

"That's alright, I tried to turn on the television."

They both laughed.

"It's gonna be a boring night," Elliot said as she sat down beside him on the sofa bed.

"I was thinking about that and I have decided that….it doesn't have to be," she said with a soft smile.

"What do you mean?"

"We have been working on us for a little while now. And I was thinking maybe tonight would be the perfect night to take us a step further."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Olivia smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. Elliot raised his hand to cup her cheek as he laid back against the bed.

"I think you are," he said as the kiss broke.

"You know the fire is kind of romantic," she said softly as she stood and dropped her pajama pants in the floor beside their makeshift bed.

"You really want to do this tonight?"

"I wanted to do this a couple of weeks ago. I guess the question is do you want to do this tonight?"

"I do," he said softly.

"I was hoping you would say that," she said with a smile as she began to unbutton his shirt.

Over the next two hours they kissed and touched and made love and it was incredible. The sex was hotter then either of them had remembered and they just felt so right together.

When they had finished, they laid curled up together safe and warm in the fire light. Elliot locked his fingers in hers and kissed her tenderly.

"We're not going to be able to hide this much longer," he said softly smoothing his palm over her now much more noticeable baby bump.

Olivia laughed.

"You're looking at me like I just mutated or something. It's the same belly that was under my shirt."

"I know. I just didn't realize how big you actually were until now. I can't believe that this has gone unnoticed this long."

"I know I'm huge."

"Your belly is huge. You are beautiful," he said kissing her lips.

"Good save."

"I talked to Fin while you were taking a bath."

"What did he have to say?"

"The station is up and running on generators. He and Munch are on call for the next couple of days, so they are just staying there in the cribs tonight. I asked him if he would like to meet us somewhere for breakfast tomorrow."

"What did he say?"

"He said yes. I know he thinks we are meeting him to tell him that we are dating."

"We kind of are."

"Among other things," Elliot replied smoothing his hand over her baby bump once more.

"What about your big surprise?"

Elliot smiled.

"That isn't until a little later. I didn't forget."

Olivia smiled as she felt his arm slip around her and she tried to think of what on Earth it could be.

"I was also thinking about some things," he whispered softly against her ear.

"Like what?" she asked with a smile.

"Christmas. I want you to go to Chicago with me."

"What about your kids?"

"I want you to meet them. Liv, I know this is all happening really fast. But I also know that what I feel for you is real. I love you. And we are having a baby together. You are a very important part of my life. And I think it is time that you met the other important parts of my life."

Olivia smiled.

"What are you going to tell them?"

"That I want to introduce them to my girlfriend."

"What if they don't like me?"

"They are going to love you."

"Are you going to tell them about the baby?"

"Well, I thought we could kind of wing that part. We can go a few days early and spend a little time with the kids. I want to give them the chance to feel like they have really gotten to know you. Then maybe before we leave we can all sit down together and tell them about the baby."

"I don't know. I don't want to ruin your Christmas."

"Ruin it? Olivia you and this baby are half of what makes this Christmas so great. Being together as a family. Not quite the whole family yet, but we will keep trying."

Olivia smiled.

"I didn't have any family, not until you came along. My mother is….well, you know that story and after I lost custody of Nicky, I was just kind of alone in the world. Then I met you. And now there is this wonderful man in my life and we are going to have a baby together. Now you sit here and talk about getting all of our kids together, it is just so good to hear. I know that it may never really happen, but it is nice to think about."

"Who say's it will never happen? Dreams never come true if you stop dreaming them, Olivia. You can't give up. You have just got to keep believing that some day David will come around and you will have a second chance with Nicky."

"I hope you're right," she whispered as she closed her eyes.

"So is that a yes?"

"Huh?"

"Christmas in Chicago? With me and the kids. Is that a yes? Or do you already have other plans?"

"No I don't have other plans. And yes, I would love to spend Christmas in Chicago with you."

"Good," Elliot said as he kissed her tenderly. "I really can't wait for you to meet the kids."

"I can't wait either."

Elliot wrapped his arms tighter around her and kissed her again.

"We should get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"You're not even going to give me a clue?"

"No clues. It will ruin the surprise."

Olivia laughed.

"I'm never going to get to sleep now. Come on, just give me a clue. Is it a thing or a place?"

"It is a place. Now go to sleep."

"You are going to take me somewhere? In all of this snow?"

"Not if you keep me awake all night," Elliot joked.

"You're not gonna travel far in the snow, so it must be a place in the city. Is it in the city?"

"You asked for a clue and I gave you a clue. That's all you get," he said kissing her once more. "Now get some rest and you will find out tomorrow."

"Alright," she agreed laying her head against his chest. "But you know I am going to be thinking about this all night, right? Like a kid at Christmas wondering what is in the big box under the Christmas tree."

"Get some rest," he said kissing her forehead. "I promise you wont be disappointed."

"Alright," she agreed as she laid still and closed her eyes once more. "Elliot?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I love you too," she said with a smile.

Elliot smiled as he opened his eyes to stare into hers in the dark.

"I was hoping you would feel that way," he said softly as he closed his arms around her and kissed her tenderly.

"Good night Elliot," she said with a soft yawn. "I love you."

"Good night, Olivia. I love you, too."

Within moments they had fallen asleep together, naked and wrapped only in the blanket from his bed and each others arms and the fire kept them warm.


	10. 10 Magic

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Ten: Magic)_

Elliot opened his eyes and kissed the top of Olivia 's head. _I could get used to this_, he thought to himself as he smiled down at the beautiful woman still sleeping in his arms. He smoothed his thumb over the warm golden skin of her bare shoulder and placed a soft kiss on it. He had never seen another woman half as attractive as she was, he wasn't even sure there were any other women in the world as wonderful as she was. He was the luckiest man in the world.

Olivia moaned a little as she stirred and opened her eyes.

"The fire went out," Elliot said softly as she smiled up from under him.

"The power is back on," she replied with a smile as she pointed to the clock on the DVD player across the room. "And there is still plenty of fire here to keep us warm," she said raising up to kiss him and pull him suggestively down to her.

Olivia giggled playfully as Elliot pulled the blankets back over their heads.

Two hours later Olivia awoke as the alarm clock on her cell phone sounded.

"What time is it?" Elliot asked as she slid to the edge of the sofa bed and wrapped the sheet around her body.

"Seven thirty," she replied walking to the window to peek outside.

"How does it look?"

"Cold," she replied looking over her shoulder at him with a sarcastic smile.

"Smart ass," Elliot teased.

"It's beautiful. Everything is white. Looks like it finally stopped snowing for now."

"That's good."

Olivia picked her clothes up from the floor as Elliot watched.

"Are you getting up?" she asked.

"I'd rather you came back to bed," he said patting the space beside him where she had once laid.

Olivia smiled leaning forward to kiss him.

"We can't now, we're supposed to have breakfast with Fin. And I need you to take me by my apartment first so I can take a shower and change clothes."

"Or we could shut off our phones and climb back under the covers, just forget about the rest of the world and enjoy an entire day to ourselves."

"That sounds really great, El. But we have to start telling people about this baby before it gets here. And don't think for a second that I have forgotten about the surprise you promised me."

Elliot smiled.

"Compromise," she said with a smile. "Grab some clothes and when you take me back to my place we can share a shower."

"I have a shower."

"But I don't have any clean clothes here. And I don't think I can wear your pajamas all day."

"Maybe you should start keeping some clothes here," he said waiting for a reaction from her.

Olivia looked up at him and smiled.

"Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"Of course I am ready. I am crazy about you. I love you."

"I love you, too. I guess I am just a little nervous that if we keep moving things along this fast we might curse ourselves."

"I think we'll be just fine," Elliot said kissing her tenderly. "I'm just saying maybe you could bring some of your things over here. That doesn't mean that you would be obligated to stay over if you didn't feel like staying over. All it means is that if you do choose to do so, you will have clean clothes to put on after you shower. I'm not trying to make you feel rushed."

"You don't," she said with a soft smile. "But if I am going to start keeping clothes here, you should pack a few things to keep at my place, too. You know," she said smoothing her hand over his cheek as she stared into his eyes, "just in case you should stay there some time."

"Alright. I'll get up and you can help me decide what to keep at your apartment."

"Start with this shirt," she said picking up the shirt she was supposed to have slept in the night before and smelling it.

"I don't really wear that one anymore."

"Not for you. For me," she said with a smile. "It is comfortable to sleep in and it smells like you."

"You like it that much," he said kissing her lips, "it's yours."

They packed up a few of his casual clothes and a couple suits for work then headed across town to her place. Olivia started the shower as Elliot hung up his suits in her bedroom closet. She had just finished shaving her legs when he stepped into the shower behind her.

"There you are. I was starting to get a little lonely in here," she said with a sexy smile.

"I'm here now."

"Good," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

After a little steamy hot sex in the shower, Elliot poured some of her shampoo into the palm of his hand.

"It always gets me how great women's shampoo smells. Fruity and flowery."

"You got a thing for shampoo?" she asked as he lathered up her hair for her.

"Not really. But a lot of men's shampoos stink."

"Stink?"

"Well, yours is all relaxing, like aromatherapy. And usually mine is like an overpowering cologne smell or ocean breeze. Which by the way, smells nothing like the ocean."

Olivia smiled.

"Poor baby. You can use my jasmine shampoo if you'd like. I'll share with you."

Elliot laughed.

"I think you have ruined this one for me anyway."

"I ruined it?"

He smiled a guilty smile.

"From this day forward the smell of jasmine scented shampoo is going to be a major turn on."

Olivia laughed.

"So from now on when you smell jasmine you will think dirty thoughts of me?"

Elliot smiled.

"Dirty naked thoughts," he admitted.

"Good to know," she replied with a sultry smile.

After their shower, Elliot called and set up the breakfast meeting with Fin while Olivia blow dried her hair.

"I don't know why you have to put on make up, you look fine without that stuff."

"You don't like my makeup?"

Elliot stopped for a moment to carefully assess the situation. The wrong reply could quite possibly get him into trouble.

"I think you look beautiful either way. But we are just going to meet Fin and honestly, I am not even sure if he notices when you wear makeup."

"I notice. I just want to look nice. I want to look my best, look good. When I look good, I feel good about myself."

"You always look good," Elliot said with a wink. "But we have to meet him in half an hour."

"I am almost done."

"Okay, I just watch the weather report while you finish up."

Olivia smiled. He was being so patient with her. Most men would have stood in the doorway complaining until she had either finished getting ready or just given up. But not Elliot, he was different. He was kind and patient, loving and understanding. He was the kind of man that restored her faith in the fact that there were still good men out there, they just happened to be hidden in the mix with all of the bad ones.

"Almost done?" Elliot mumbled to himself as he checked his watch fifteen minutes later. "It's a good thing Fin knows her well enough to know we are probably going to be late."

"I'm ready," she said walking into the living room as he turned off the television and stood to look at her.

"Does this sweater look alright?" she asked looking down at her heather grey V-neck sweater that fell just below her hips.

"You look nice," he finally spit out after staring at her for a while.

"Well, I have it in blue also, if you think that would look better with the dark jeans."

"I really like what you are wearing," he said leaning forward as if to kiss her. Elliot brushed the tip of his nose against her cheek as he whispered in her ear. "You look amazing in everything that you wear. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I thank God every day for bring you into my life."

Olivia smiled as he softly kissed her cheek.

"I love you," he said softly as she pressed her lips together. "And I really like that sweater."

Olivia blushed a bit as he kissed her tenderly.

"Thank you. I love you, too. We should get going, we're running late."

"It's Fin. I am sure he is expecting us to be late," Elliot said holding her coat as she slipped into it.

"Very funny."

At breakfast they sat and made small talk for a while as they waited on the food to arrive. Fin suspected something was going on by the way Elliot placed his hand in the small of her back and lead her into the room.

"So what'd you wanna talk about?" he asked sawing off a bite of rare steak with his knife as Olivia stared at his plate.

"Liv and I just wanted to update you on our situation."

Fin smiled and looked up at her, but she couldn't break her stare.

"You guys are together now? Like a couple?"

"Is it that obvious?" Elliot asked. "What is it written across my forehead?"

"It's all over your face man. You're happy. And it isn't hard to see that she lights up when you're around too. Don't worry, I'm not going to let your little secret slip. But I think it's great."

"Really?" Elliot asked smiling in relief.

"Yeah. I ain't seen you smile like that in years. Have you thought about how you're going to break the news to Cragen?"

"We're working on it. But first we wanted to fill you in on _all_ of the news."

"There's more?" Fin asked cutting into his eggs as the golden yolk spilled out onto his plate.

Olivia fidgeted a bit in her seat as she stared at his food.

"An what might that be?" Fin asked.

"I'm pregnant," Olivia blurted out leaping from her chair and running for the ladies room.

Fin looked shocked for a moment as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

"Pregnant? That didn't take long."

"It happened that first night back in Chicago."

"That was months ago. You're just now finding out?"

"No, you're just now finding out. She and I have known for a while now."

"What are you gonna do?"

"We're gonna have a baby," Elliot said looking at his friend as if there were never another option. "We have agreed on that from the start."

"So you are going to have a baby? And you are dating? Congratulations, man."

"Yes. And yes. We are still really getting to know each other, but things are going well."

Fin nodded.

"Cragen is going to shit!"

"Thanks for the support," Elliot said standing up and dropping his cloth napkin onto the table beside his plate. "I'm gonna go check on her."

Elliot made his way down the hall toward the ladies room. He waited for a moment outside the door, then knocked as he pushed it slightly open.

"Olivia?"

"I'll be out in a minute," she said from a stall in the back of the room.

"Are you alone?"

"I think so," she groaned as she flushed the toilet and came stumbling out of the stall.

"You doing alright? I can take you home if you wanna lie down."

"I'll be okay, I just need a few minutes. I thought I was past this part. Then the blood from his steak and the eggs," she groaned again placing her hand against her stomach.

Elliot leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm pregnant," she said as she exhaled. "And apparently I should just get used to the morning sickness."

Elliot watched as she leaned over the sink and rinsed her mouth out.

"What did Fin have to say about the big news?"

"Congratulations."

She looked up at him.

"Really?"

"Really. Then he said Cragen was gonna shit."

Liv smiled resisting the urge to laugh. She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall for a moment.

"You go on back out there. I'm okay. But I really appreciate you checking on me. I'll be back out in a minute. I just want to freshen up a bit," she said unzipping her purse.

"Alright. Can I get you something? Do you want me to order you different food?"

"Maybe some club soda and crackers to settle my stomach. I don't think I will eat anything right now," she said forcing a smile. "I think I'll wait until lunch."

"Alright," he said kissing her forehead again as he moved toward the bathroom door.

"El?"

"Yeah, baby?"

She smiled softly as she stared into his eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

Elliot walked back out to the table.

"She doing alright in there?" Fin asked.

"Yeah. Just a bit of morning sickness. You should order something else."

"What? I'm still eating."

"Look man, she can't handle the blood and runny eggs right now. She'll be back out her in a minute."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? It's a twelve dollar steak."

"I'm paying," Elliot insisted. "Just cover that up," he said tossing his napkin over the plate.

"Hey!"

"Here, take my pancakes," he said handing Fin his plate of untouched food. "Blueberry."

Elliot flagged the waitress and ordered Olivia's soda and crackers. He handed her Fin and Olivia's plates to take away from the table as well.

"Hey you," he said as she walked back toward their table. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to brush my teeth," she said giving him a quick kiss.

"Minty fresh," Elliot said with a smile.

"Better than before," she said as he pulled her chair out for her. "I am really sorry about that, Fin."

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I never would have ordered that if I had known."

"I thought I had gotten past the nausea, but it still sneaks up on me from time to time."

"When is the baby due?"

"The end of April. I am just under five months along."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Not yet," Olivia said with a smile as she looked over at Elliot.

"Well, congratulations."

"Thank you," she said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I wont say anything."

"We plan to tell everyone soon," Elliot said taking a sip from his coffee.

"We just wanted to tell you first. Since you have kind of known about us all along," Olivia continued.

After breakfast, Elliot took Olivia back to her apartment where they laid down together to take a nap. When they woke up he made them some lunch, then they were off again.

"You're still not going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope."

Olivia laughed as Elliot parked the car.

"You brought me to the park?"

"You ever played in the snow in Central Park?"

"No."

Elliot opened the car door and stepped out. Olivia watched a bit confused as he walked around and opened the door for her.

"You coming?"

Olivia laughed as he helped her from the car.

"The park looks completely different when it's covered in snow."

"It's beautiful," Olivia said slipping her arm in his as she laid her head against his shoulder.

They walked around for a while and sat on a bench to watch some ice skaters. Across the way a group of children were preparing for a snowman building contest and a few others were playing on a sled.

Elliot slipped his hand in hers and they kissed as the snow began to fall once more. The sun was shining and everything around them glittered and sparkled. The day was magical and one of the best that they had shared together as a couple.

They played together in the snow. Running and laughing and chasing each other. They threw snow balls and tackled each other playfully as they rolled around in the snow together. Elliot had never seen her smile so much or laugh as hard as she did then.

"That's it," he said. "I'm done! I'm done! I can't get up!"

Olivia laughed and stood over him pulling on his hands until she had pulled him to his feet. Elliot hugged her and kissed her and they laughed together as they stood brushing the snow off each other.

"You keep making me laugh I'm going to have to pee," she said as he kissed her tenderly.

Elliot memorized everything about the way she looked in this moment. The sunlight seemed to dance off her hair, bringing out the chestnut and copper strands. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and he couldn't imagine being more in love with anyone than he was with her right now.

"Let's get hot chocolate," he said leading toward a nearby vendor.

They walked for a little while sipping cocoa and talking about the future.

Elliot stopped and she smiled as she stared into his eyes.

"I love you so much," she said with a smile.

"And I love you."

As they stood talking something caught her eye. A man walking with his little boy. Olivia tipped her head and studied them for a moment. Elliot watched her carefully as she dropped the paper cup into the snow by her feet.

"Liv?"

She couldn't speak. She just stood there with her eyes locked on the man and his son.

"Nicky," she whispered.

"I know," he replied.

"Elliot, what did you do?" she gasped as a tear slid down her cheek.

"It's alright," he said as the man approached them.

"How did you….?" she gasped.

"I am very persuasive when I want something."

"Nicky?" Olivia said as she walked slowly toward the boy.

The child stopped and stared at her for a moment, but didn't speak.

"Nicky, it's mommy," she said softly dropping to her knees in the snow.

"Mommy?" he asked softly.

Olivia drew a staggered breath between her tears as she opened her arms to the child.

"Mommy," he said running to her as she closed her arms around him.

"Oh sweetheart," she whispered to the little boy, "mommy has missed you so much."

"I missed you mommy. Where did you go?"

"Mommy had to go away for a while, Nicky. Daddy explained that to you," David said from behind the boy.

"Mommy's here now baby," she said softly hugging her son as she stared up at her ex-husband, "and I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

"Nick, this is Elliot," David said. "He's mommy's friend."

"Hi Elliot," the little boy said smiling up at him.

"Hi there. Hey, why don't you and I go over here and you can help me build a snowman while your mommy and daddy talk?"

"Okay," he said with excitement in his voice. "Can I daddy?"

"Go ahead. But stay right there where I can see you."

"I will," he said running a few feet ahead of Elliot.

Olivia stood and watched as Elliot played in the snow with her son.

"You said you would never let me see him again. That was the last thing you said to me," she said softly as she wiped the tears from her cheek with the back of her glove. "What made you change your mind?"

"Your boyfriend is very persistent. For weeks he followed me around. When he finally convinced me that you would pose no threat, I agreed to bring Nick here today."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Your prints are on file with the F.B.I. and you work for the N.Y.P.D. You can't go anywhere they can't find you."

Olivia turned and looked at him.

"You spend the rest of the day with him. Meet me back here at seven o'clock and don't be late."

Olivia looked at him in disbelief.

"I won't be."

"I am giving you a chance, Olivia. Don't make me regret it. Or so help me God I will leave the state with him and you will never see him again!"

"David, I'm not going to take him. I missed out on two years of his life. I don't want to miss anymore."

"If this works out well, we can arrange for you to spend a few more afternoons with him. He deserves to know his mother. Maybe after a while, if it's alright with Nick we can work out some kind of custody arrangement. Every other weekend or something."

"Thank you," she said staring at him.

"Seven o'clock."

Olivia nodded as David stepped toward the spot where Elliot was playing in the snow with Nicky. Olivia watched as he knelt and spoke to his son for a moment.

Olivia walked over and hugged Elliot.

"Thank you," she mouthed smiling up at him.

"You're welcome," he whispered as he winked at her.

"Mommy, look at our snowman."

"That is very good."

"Daddy said I can stay with you and Elliot for a little while."

"Only if you want to," she said staring into her own brown eyes.

"I want to," he said with a smile.

"Give me a hug pal," David said as he knelt to wrap his arms around his son. "Now, Elliot has my cell phone number if you need me."

"Okay. Bye daddy," Nicky said waving to his father.

"Seven o'clock," Olivia said as David stood and looked at her.

"Nicky, it's getting kind of cold out here," Elliot said. "What do you say we get a cup of cocoa and go to the magic house?"

"Yeah!" the little boy said as a huge smile crossed his face.

"I don't know how to thank you," Olivia said with a smile as Elliot opened the car for her.

"You just keep smiling like that," he said as he handed her the little bag that contained Nicky's birthday gift. "I love you, Olivia. And there isn't anything in this world that I wouldn't do for you."

"I love you too," she said kissing him tenderly. "And you just made me and that little boy, very happy."

"You're his mother. He needs you in his life."

"And I need him in mine. But this never would have happened if it hadn't been for you. David would never listen to me. If it had been up to him, he probably never would have given me a second chance."

"Let's get this little man to the magic house," he said as she climbed into the car.

"Nicky, I was thinking after the magic house maybe we could go somewhere and get something to eat," Olivia suggested looking at Elliot. "Do you still like pizza?"

"I love pizza!"

Elliot laughed.

"So do I," he said with a smile as he started the car.


	11. 11 Thank God For You

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Eleven: Thank God For You)_

Olivia paced the floor in her hospital gown waiting for the doctor to return. She paused for a moment at a knock on the door.

"Ms. Benson, your husband has arrived. Is it okay for me to show him in?" the nurses voice asked.

"Yes, he can come in," Olivia replied as the woman opened the door and Elliot rushed to her side.

"Liv, sweetheart, are you alright?" he asked checking her over before pulling her into his arms to hug her tight. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to get here."

"Oh, Elliot, I am so glad you're here," she replied burying her face in his shirt as she began to cry once more.

"Baby, what happened? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"There was blood. I came straight to the emergency room. But they are backed up because of some bus accident, so they brought me up to labor and delivery."

"Did your doctor check you out?"

"Right away. Well, the doctor on call examined me, they are calling my doctor. He asked me to wait a few minutes and stepped into the hall. That was half an hour ago. Elliot, I'm afraid I might be losing the baby."

"What did he say?"

"He just asked if I was having any pain or contractions."

"Are you?"

"No. Just bleeding."

"How bad is the bleeding?"

"Just spotting, really. It is a little heavy. But this isn't supposed to happen when you're pregnant! And it hasn't happened before! Not until this morning."

"Honey, you have to calm down. I am sure he will be back any minute now. I think maybe you should lie back down and try to relax a little bit."

Elliot helped her back into the hospital bed. He fluffed her pillow and adjusted the bed until she was comfortable, then pressed the call button and insisted they send someone in to explain to them everything that was going on.

Ten minutes later Olivia's OBGYN entered the room. Just seeing a familiar face in one of those white lab coats seemed to really help calm her nerves. Elliot held her hand as the doctor examined her. Moments later they had hooked her up to all kinds of beeping and flashing machines to monitor the baby's activity.

"What is going on with our baby?" Olivia asked as a nurse handed Elliot a stack of paperwork to fill out.

"Do you see these little lines right here?" the doctor asked pointing to some scribbles on some papers coming out of one of the machines.

"Yes," Olivia replied still quite confused.

"These are contractions. You are in the very early stages of preterm labor."

"I have not felt any contractions."

"They are light, but they are there. I have given you a little something that should hopefully get them stopped over the next hour or so."

"Is the baby going to be okay?"

"The baby looks perfect. It is just too early for delivery. I would like to keep you overnight just to be on the safe side. I want to make sure we get these contractions stopped, the spotting has almost stopped already. Once you are discharged I want you to stay off your feet for a few days."

"Bed rest?"

"Complete bed rest," the doctor clarified. "We want to make sure we keep this baby in there until he or she is actually ready to come out. Try to get some rest," he replied muting one of the beeping monitors, "I'll come back in a couple of hours to check on you. I have to head back across town to my office, but the doctors here are very good and if you need me just let them know to page me and I will be right here."

"Thank you doctor," Olivia said with a smile.

"Do you need anything?" Elliot asked handing her the remote as the doctor walked out of the room.

"I could use a bottle of water," she said with a soft smile.

"I'll be right back," Elliot replied kissing her tenderly as he headed for the door.

In the hall he caught the doctor to speak with him privately.

"How serious is this?" Elliot asked.

"It could have been really bad. If she hadn't come in when she did, within an hour or so the labor may have been too far along to stop delivery. If she had delivered, chances are slim that the infant would survive."

Elliot felt a knot rise in his throat as tears filled his eyes.

"She was very lucky," the doctor reminded him.

"Thank you, doctor," Elliot choked out as the man patted him on the back and disappeared down the hall once more.

Elliot returned a few minutes later to find Olivia sound asleep. He smiled as he sat the bottle of water on the bedside table and turned off the television. He tucked the blanket around her and kissed the tip of her nose.

"I thank God for you," he whispered. "And for looking out for you and our baby. The two of you have changed my life," he said softly, "I never knew I could love any woman as much as I love you."

Elliot kissed her forehead and took a seat in a chair beside her bed. He leaned back and propped up his feet to catch a nap while she was resting.

_**Twelve Days Later…..**_

Elliot raised his eyes from the stack of paperwork on his desk to see his partner as she entered the room.

"Hey," he said with a smile.

"Hey."

"How did the appointment go?"

"Good. The doctor said everything seems fine," Olivia said resting her hand protectively over her abdomen. "And he cleared me to fly just in time to make our Chicago Christmas trip."

"Great," Elliot said smiling again. "I was worried it wouldn't be safe after this little scare."

"And I would be spending Christmas all alone in New York City."

"Never. We would just have to leave earlier and make the trip by car."

"Really?" she asked softly as she smiled at him.

"Of course. I am really excited for you to meet the kids."

"I'm excited, too."

Elliot watched her as she sat down in the chair on the other side of his desk and seemed to pick at her fingernail.

"Liv, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. The baby's fine….and I'm fine….and in two days we leave for Chicago."

"Still, it seems like something is weighing on your mind," he said reaching forward to place his hand over hers. "You can talk to me. If you have changed your mind….If you don't want to go, it's okay."

Olivia studied their hands on the desk for a moment, then slowly smiled suddenly realizing that he hadn't even checked the room to see if anyone had been watching them.

"I haven't changed my mind," she said raising her eyes to meet his. "I want to go to Chicago and meet your children."

"Then what is it? There is something, I can tell."

"I guess maybe I am just a little nervous. Elliot, what if they don't like me? What if they hate me?"

Elliot laughed.

"They aren't going to hate you. You are an amazing person. They will see that. And I am sure they'll love you."

"It is going to be awkward for them….meeting their father's new girlfriend…pregnant, girlfriend."

"They'll get used to the idea and they will be excited about the baby."

"Eventually…."

"Would you rather I call ahead and tell them about the baby? I will if you'd like."

"Do you think that would make it any easier on them?"

"Olivia, honey, I think that this is the best way. If I call ahead they could have mixed feelings about the new baby. I am sure at least part of those feelings will be confusion of the situation and probably some frustration and anger toward me. They are kids. I am sure at some point at least one of them will feel a bit of resentment, like dad hasn't really been there for them and is now making a new family. If I just blurt it all out in a phone call they'll be angry at me and that resentment and anger is likely to be redirected toward you and this baby."

"How is it going to be different if you tell them in person? Wont they still have those feelings?"

"Possibly," Elliot said taking her hand in his as he exhaled. "But I don't plan to just drop it on them like a bomb. I want them to meet you, to spend some time with you and really get to know you. I know they'll love you. I wanna give them the chance to warm up to you and see what a wonderful person you really are and just how happy you make dear old dad."

Olivia laughed.

"Then drop the bomb on them and run?" she joked.

"Then we will all sit down together and I will explain to them how you are a very important part of my life. Someone whom I care very deeply about, someone I love. And I will explain to them that you are always going to be a part of my life and that you and I are going to have a child together," he said with a smile. "It wont be that bad. You'll see."

"I can't help but feel like a home wrecker."

"No! No, no, no. Olivia, Kathy left me. Our marriage was over long before you entered my life. And I will explain that to the kids if I need to. Look, there was a time when I couldn't imagine myself loving another woman the way I loved her. Then you came along."

"And you love me like that?"

"No, sweetheart. I love you so much more than that."

Elliot watched as she looked up with her sparkling eyes and smiled at him.

"More than I have ever loved any woman in my entire life. I am deeper in love with you than I ever thought anyone could be. And I don't expect this feeling to go away any time soon."

"Good," Olivia said with a smile. "Because I love you, too."

"I love you. And I don't want you to be scared to meet the kids. They are the only other people in the world I have ever loved as much as I love you. And once they see how good you are for me, they're gonna love you too. You're a loveable girl, Liv. With that amazing smile and those big brown eyes, people can't help but love you."

Olivia smiled as Elliot kissed the tip of her freckled nose.

"Thanks, El. I guess I was just a little nervous. But I feel better now."

"Good. And I hope you're almost packed because I booked us on the early flight. We leave for Chicago in….. thirty two and a half hours."

"The early flight? As in the red eye?"

"Hear me out. First of all the tickets were cheaper and the seats are better."

"El, the tickets are cheaper because the flight leaves at the crack of dawn on Christmas Eve."

"Yes. But with the money I saved there I was able to get us a better hotel…..a suite."

"Suite?"

"That's right. More space and an actual bedroom. I thought maybe if things went over well with the kids they could maybe spend a night with us at the hotel. It is completely up to you of course. I have not mentioned anything to them at all. And if you think it will be too much too fast, that's alright. You can tell me."

"No," Olivia said with a smile. "Not at all. But we're probably going to be jetlagged from the early…._or late _flight."

"I figured we could get checked into the hotel and get settled. We can get some rest and get some breakfast first, then meet up with the kids a little later. We can spend the day together and have dinner, then Elizabeth's ballet recital is that night…..she is so excited we're going to be there. What do you think?"

"Excited _we_ are going to be there?"

"Yes…._we_. I told them I am bringing someone along and they cannot wait to meet you."

"Really?"

"Yes. So what do you think? Sound like a plan?"

Olivia smiled again.

"It sounds like a really good plan. And I can't wait."

"


	12. 12 Sugar Plum Fairies & Pixies

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Twelve: Sugar Plum Fairies & Pixies) _

Olivia was exhausted when their plane finally landed in Chicago. It was nearing five o'clock in the morning and as much as she had tried to rest on the plane, sleep just had not been an option.

Elliot got them a cab and half an hour later they were checking in to their hotel.

"This is beautiful, isn't it?" he asked as they looked around the lobby.

"Yea, nice," she replied with a yawn and heavy eyes.

"You wanna grab something to eat before we head upstairs?" he asked as the smell of bacon and fresh pancakes made its way down the hall from one of the two restaurants in the hotel."

Olivia didn't look too interested in the idea.

"Or we could order room service," he said handing her the room key as he pushed the button to open the elevator door.

"Huh," Olivia sighed with a smile. "Room five fifteen," she pointed out holding up the envelope for him to see.

"Must be our lucky number," Elliot replied as they stepped off the elevator and began the search for their room.

"Yeah, maybe I can get knocked up again while we're here. You know, for old time sake," she said with a sarcastic smile and a laugh.

"Very funny."

"It is purely coincidental."

"Maybe so. But I think the last time was pretty lucky."

"You said yourself that place was a dump. At least this is a nice hotel."

"A dump, yes, but lucky still. The first night we spent together was in room five fifteen. The night I fell in love with you and the first night we made love was in room five fifteen. This baby was conceived in room five fifteen."

"I get it. You got lucky in room five fifteen," she said with a smirk humoring him because she was too exhausted to care anymore.

"I think I got pretty lucky. That night changed my life. And every day since has been even better because of the night you and I spent together in room five fifteen."

"Aww," she said with a smile.

"I love you baby doll," Elliot replied kissing her forehead.

"I love you, too."

Elliot pushed the door open and carried their bags inside.

"This place really is beautiful," Olivia said looking around the large suite as they stepped inside. "You know, at first I thought you were crazy with this red eye idea. But now I think it was definitely worth it. This room is incredible."

"Only the best for my girl," Elliot replied as he opened the double French doors into the large bedroom.

He picked up their bags and carried them inside. He set his down in the corner of the room and set hers on the bed so that she could dig through it and have the room to lay out her clothes the way she liked to do.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked picking up the room service menu as she riffled through the clothes in her suitcase.

"All I want it a hot shower and some sleep," she replied as she began hanging her things up in the closet and tucking her undergarments into a dresser drawer.

Elliot kissed the top of her head as she slipped on a pair of hotel slippers and picked up one of the fluffy white hotel robes as she headed into the bathroom.

"I am starving," he said throwing himself back into the sea of fluffy pillows and picking up the phone.

Half an hour later Olivia walked out of the steamy bathroom to see a cart with a silver tray full of breakfast foods.

"Did you enjoy your shower?" Elliot asked.

"I did. I think that is the most relaxing shower I have ever had in my life. And this evening, I plan to take complete advantage of that Jacuzzi tub. I think there are still a few kinks in my back I wasn't able to work out in the shower. I guess that's just something that comes along flying while pregnant."

"I could give you a back massage."

"Baby, that sounds amazing. Maybe tonight after my bath?"

"It's a date," Elliot said with a wink. "You should eat something. I wasn't sure what you would want so I ordered just about everything."

"I had thought I was too tired to eat, but now that the food is here it all smells so wonderful."

"Here," he said pushing half a dozen pillows into the floor beside the bed and turning back the blankets for her, "you get settled and I will fix you a plate. Whatever you want, breakfast in bed."

Olivia smiled.

"I think this is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me," she said as she settled into the bed.

"It's the least I can do for keeping you up this late."

"You mean getting me up this early?" she asked with a smile.

"That is exactly what I mean," Elliot replied with a soft kiss as he handed her a plate.

He fixed himself a plate as well and climbed into bed beside her as he turned on the television. Twenty minutes later they were both sleeping soundly, curled up together in the California king sized bed.

Later that evening Elliot and Olivia got dressed up for a night out at the theatre.

"Does this work?" Olivia asked stepping out of the bathroom.

Elliot raised his head to admire her in her little black dress as she fixed her earring.

"You look beautiful," he said stepping closer to kiss her.

"Really? It isn't too much? Or too little?"

"It is perfect. Except, maybe the jewelry."

"You don't like it? I have gold, if you think that would look better."

"I was thinking something more like this," he said handing her a small gift box.

"Oh Elliot…."

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

"Christmas isn't until tomorrow," she said as she sat on the edge of the bed and stared down at the shiny ribbon around the box.

"Trust me, there is still plenty of Christmas to be had tomorrow. Open it."

Olivia smiled and untied the bow.

"What do you think?" Elliot asked.

"They are beautiful. But El, this is too much."

She smiled as she admired the diamond pendant and matching tennis bracelet and earrings in the box.

"Hey, I can buy diamonds for the mother of my child if I want to. Put them on," he said taking the necklace from the box almost as excited as she was, "I want to see them."

Olivia took off the silver necklace she'd been wearing and set it on the night stand, then raised her hair as Elliot fastened the new on in it's place.

"How does it look?" she asked softly.

"Absolutely gorgeous," Elliot replied kissing the side of her neck.

"I'd better hurry, or we'll be late."

Olivia stepped back into the bathroom to change out her earrings and pee one more time before they left. Before long they were standing on the sidewalk in front of the theatre.

"Kathy said she'd leave our tickets at the door."

"Your ex-wife is here too?" Olivia asked nervously.

"Relax. Her seats aren't anywhere near ours. You don't have to meet her if you don't want to," he said as he slipped his fingers between hers. "The older kids are going to sit with her and I will get them for dinner after the show."

"What if they don't like me?"

"Nonsense. They are going to love you."

Elliot lead her to their seats just as the lights went down and the show began.

"Which one is Elizabeth?" Olivia whispered softly in his ear.

"Sugar plum fairy number eight," Elliot said as he looked down at his program. "She's the third one from the end in the purple tutu."

Olivia smiled as the little girl twirled around in circles with the rest of the smaller children.

"She's adorable."

"Thanks," he said squeezing her hand. "I like to think she gets her looks and talent from dear old dad. But the truth is she looks more like her mother. With blonde hair and blue eyes, they all do."

Olivia smiled and placed his hand over her baby bump.

"Well, maybe this one will look like daddy."

"Or mommy," he said giving her a dashing grin. "With your big brown eyes and beautiful smile."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and find out," she replied looking around her at the rest of the audience.

"Relax, they can't see us," Elliot said jokingly as he kissed her.

"Where are Kathy and the other kids?"

Elliot cleared his throat as he turned around and looked behind them.

"Four rows back, on the end."

Olivia blinked and her big eyes widened as she mentally counted back to the seat where a very attractive blonde sat. That had to be her, Olivia thought to herself, because she was watching the area where little Elizabeth Stabler was performing.

"She's pretty," she whispered fidgeting as she straightened her dress.

"Not as pretty as you are," Elliot assured her.

Olivia smiled nervously as one of the older girls spotted Elliot and waved.

"They're excited to see you."

"I can't wait for you to meet them."

Olivia smiled again and laid her head against his shoulder.

"I have not seen "The Nutcracker" since I was a kid. But I don't remember there being sugar plum fairies," she confessed.

"I think they just added them in so the little kids could dance in the show."

"Oh," she said with a smile, "they sure are cute though."

"Yeah, they are. I never thought I would find myself watching a ballet. But then I had little girls and I realized daddy would do anything to make them smile."

"Are you ready for another one?" she asked with a smile as she handed him a Christmas card.

Inside was the latest sonogram picture of their baby.

"Another baby. Definitely."

"Another sugar plum fairy?" she whispered.

Elliot studied the picture then turned to her with tears in his eyes.

"It's a girl?"

"It's a girl," she repeated. "I was going to wait until tomorrow and tell you on Christmas. Then you gave me my gift tonight…. Kind of a cheesy gift, I know."

"No," he said with a smile, "it is absolutely perfect." Elliot placed both hands on Olivia's belly once more and smiled. "We're having a little girl."

Olivia smiled as she leaned back in her seat and tried to imagine their little girl in a pink tutu and little pink ballet shoes dancing around up there on the stage. She took Elliot's hand in hers and smoothed it across her belly, resting it on the place where their tiny daughter kicked wildly inside of her.

"I think she likes ballet," Olivia said softly.

"Daddy's gonna have another little ballerina."

Olivia giggled.

After the show Elliot and Olivia waited in the lobby for the kids to come out. He stood with her hand in his holding a bouquet of pink roses.

"Daddy!" Elizabeth squealed as she pushed her way through the crowd and leapt into her father's arms.

"Hello sweetheart," he said hugging her tight.

"Did you see me dance?" she asked in excitement.

"I sure did! And you were the best sugar plum fairy up there."

Elizabeth giggled.

"We're pixies, daddy! Not fairies!"

"Well, you were the best sugar plum pixie on that stage. The prettiest, too. These are for you," he said handing her the bouquet of flowers that were almost as big as she was.

"Thank you, daddy."

She stared up at him with her blonde banana curls and freckles.

"I see you are missing another tooth."

"Yeah, it fell out last week. The tooth fairy gave me a dollar for it," she announced.

"She's a _fairy_, not a _pixie_," Elliot clarified patting the top of her head.

Elizabeth giggled.

"The tooth fairy isn't real," Dickie taunted his sister as he approached them.

"Is too!" Elizabeth argued.

"Stop picking on your sister," Elliot said as he hugged his son. "Girls," he said reaching to for his oldest two children, "give your dear old dad a hug."

"Hi daddy," Maureen said with a smile as she kissed his cheek.

"We missed you dad," Kathleen said as he hugged her tight.

"Guys, this is Olivia."

"Hi Olivia," Maureen said extending her hand to shake Liv's, "it's nice to meet you."

"It is very nice to finally get to meet all of you too," Olivia said with a smile.

"She's pretty," Elizabeth whispered to her father.

"I know," Elliot whispered back as he kissed the tip of her nose.

Elizabeth giggled.

"Liv, this is Maureen, Kathleen, Dickie and Elizabeth," Elliot said pointing out each child as he introduced them. "How's your mother?" Elliot asked Maureen.

"She's good. She saw you here and told us we could come on over. We're just supposed to be back at home by ten o'clock."

"Ten o'clock?" Elliot asked looking at his watch. "It is seven o'clock now."

Maureen shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, we'd better get going then. Who's hungry?"

"I am," Elizabeth said with a smile.

"You are? What are you hungry for?"

"Pizza," she said with a big smile.

"Pizza is the only thing she will eat," Kathleen informed them.

"And macaroni and cheese," Dickie chimed in.

"Pizza is my favorite," Elizabeth said as she folded her arms in front of her.

"Pizza is my favorite, too," Olivia said with a warm smile.

"It is?" Elizabeth looking up at her with a big grin.

"Yeah."

"Pizza it is!" Elliot announced. "Are you ready to try some Chicago style deep dish?" he asked Olivia.

"Sure I am."

"There is this place just across town, it's incredible."

At the restaurant, Elliot gave up his seat beside his girlfriend to Elizabeth who insisted she sit next Olivia and Dickie who was being suspiciously nice. After dinner they took the kids ice skating.

"Come out here with us Liv," Dickie called to her as he breezed past them.

"Yeah, come on," Maureen said with a smile.

"Maybe later, guys!" Elliot called back to them.

"Elliot, I am not going out on that ice. It's just too dangerous," she said resting her hand protectively over her abdomen.

"You could go out with me, I won't let you fall."

"No way," she replied shaking her head at him.

"Alright," he said with a smile. "We can sit this one out."

"You don't have to sit out. Go skate with them. I'll be fine here. Might even wave to you from the bench."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she said with a playful laugh.

Elliot leaned forward and rubbed his nose against hers as he kissed her lips.

"I'll be back shortly."

Olivia smiled and watched as Elliot joined the kids to play on the ice. After a little while they all gathered around the side once more.

"You should come out here with us, Olivia," Kathleen said as she picked Elizabeth up to look over the wall.

"Yeah," Elizabeth said with a big smile and a sparkle in her eyes, "it's really fun!"

"Well, I would guys….but…. I'm afraid I don't know how to ice skate," she quickly thought of a little white lie to hide the real reason she didn't want to take to the ice.

"Daddy can teach you," Elizabeth said. "He teached all of us."

"I _taught_ all of you," Elliot corrected his youngest by seven minutes.

"Pleeeease," she begged.

Olivia shifted her stare to Elliot.

"I don't know."

"Guys, go on. I'll be out there in a minute."

They watched as the children disappeared into the crowd once more.

"El, you can't be serious."

"We could go slow. I could help you. We'll stay to the side."

"I know how to skate, Elliot. I am actually a very good skater. But what if I fall? The last thing I want is to do something to risk losing this baby. And I'm wearing a dress."

"So are the girls. Tell you what, hold on to me. We'll take it slow and I'll stay behind you the entire time, if you feel like you are going to fall, fall back on me. I will break your fall."

"Land on you? That's your solution?"

"I won't let you fall. I promise."

Olivia considered it for a moment as she watched the kids on the ice. She took a deep breath and picked up a pair of skates.

"Alright, but only once around the rink and we stay by the wall."

"Okay," he agreed with a smile.

A few minutes later Elliot was standing behind her holding her hand with his other hand on her waist.

"Swear you won't let go?" she asked as her heart pounded in her chest.

"Cross my heart," he said with a smile.

After skating Elliot, Olivia and all four kids had a snowball fight in the park. Laughter and giggles filled the night air as it began to snow once more.

"How about some hot cocoa to warm everyone up?" Elliot asked the brood.

"Yeah," Dickie answered.

"Dad," Maureen said looking at her watch in the moonlight, "it's after nine thirty."

"Alright," he said looking at the kids as their smiles began to fade, "we will get the cocoa and get you guys back to mom."

"Do we have to go back, daddy?" Elizabeth asked as Elliot walked them back to Maureen's car.

"If we don't mom will get mad," Dickie replied.

"Yes, honey, you have to go back. Mommy will miss very much you if you don't. But, Olivia and I are not leaving town until the day after tomorrow. And first thing tomorrow morning Maureen is going to bring you guys back here so you can spend Christmas Day with us."

"What if mom says no?"

"I have already worked it out with mom and everything is okay. Back at our hotel room there is a Christmas tree and I am pretty sure I saw gifts under there with all of your names on them."

"Really?" she asked with a curious smile.

"Really," he said as she hugged him tight.

"I love you daddy," she said leaning forward to rub the tip of her nose against his.

Elliot watched as the children all said their goodbyes to Olivia and hugged her. He couldn't help but wonder if anyone would notice the small bulge of baby sister she concealed under her clothes.

Back in the room, Elliot ran a warm bath for Olivia.

"It's ready," he said as he watched her step out of her dress. "It's warm, but not too hot. Hot isn't good for the baby."

Olivia smiled as she kissed him tenderly.

"Yes, daddy," she said as she stepped around the corner and lowered herself into the water.

"Did you have fun tonight?" Elliot asked as he lit some candles around the room and dimmed the lights.

"I had a blast," she replied with a smile, smoothing her hands over her belly as he turned on the jets.

"The kids love you. I knew they would," he said as he began to massage her back.

"They are amazing kids. And so sweet."

"I think Dickie has a little crush on you."

Olivia laughed.

"Well, do you blame him? He knows a beautiful woman when he sees one. And he has his dad's good taste."

Elliot smoothed a soapy sponge over her belly as it stuck up out of the water.

"Another little girl," he said with a smile.

"Are you disappointed? I know most men want sons."

"Not at all. This is daddy's little princess. All I want is for her to be healthy and happy and to make all of her dreams come true."

"You are such a great father. You know, I have never had a little girl. I am sure there are a lot of differences between little girls and little boys."

"A few," Elliot agreed. "But they are both a lot of fun."

"I love you so much," she said with a tired smile.

"I love you too, angel. It's late, we should get you to bed. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Christmas with the kids. Are we gonna tell them?"

"I figured we could talk to them about her during dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Well, brunch. I figured we could all order room service and sit around watching Christmas movies after we open gifts."

"Then you'll drop the bomb?"

"There is no bomb. This baby girl is great news. And I am sure the kids will be excited, too."

"I hope you're right. I mean, I think Elizabeth will be excited to have a baby sister, maybe even Dickie, too. But I'm not so sure about the older girls."

"The baby news might come as a little shock to them at first, but I assure you they will all be excited when this baby is born."

"Do you really think so?"

"I know so. There is no way that this beautiful little girl could be anything but good news."

"You are my rock, you know that?" she asked as she stood and wrapped a towel around herself.

"Always. And you are my angel. Did you get enough to eat?" he asked as she slipped her gown over her head and turned down the bed.

"Yes, I did. And you were right, that is probably the best pizza I have eaten in my life."

"Goodnight darlin'," Elliot whispered as he climbed into bed beside her and turned out the lights.

"Goodnight," she whispered as she stared at him across her pillow. "Unless, maybe you don't feel like sleeping," she said giving him _the_ look.

"Sex? Tonight?"

"Unless you don't want to. Maybe I am getting too fat for sex."

"Not at all. You are the most incredibly beautiful woman I have ever seen."

"I am pregnant and I am getting huge."

"It's my baby and that is sexy. I just figured you would be tired after the long day we had."

"I am tired. But not too tired for sex. I just figured you didn't want it anymore. You seemed to have stopped asking for it, lately."

"Liv, it isn't because I am not attracted to you. I just figured with your belly getting bigger you wouldn't want me on top of you all of the time."

"You know there are other positions. I mean we have both been through a pregnancy before, I am sure we could find something that works for us. I don't want us to lose this intimacy between us. A lot of couples lose that during pregnancy, some never regain it."

"Olivia, I promise you, you don't ever have to worry about that. I love you and only you….I always will. And these changes you are going through with this pregnancy just make you even more beautiful."

Olivia smiled.

"That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"I love you," Elliot whispered as he kissed her tenderly.

Olivia smiled and kissed him again.

"I love you, too," she whispered as she pulled her gown off and dropped it into the floor beside the bed.


	13. 13 A Very Merry Christmas

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Thirteen: A Very Merry Christmas) _

Olivia opened her eyes in the large empty room. She sat up in the bed and yawned as she scratched the top of her head.

"El?" she asked feeling just a bit confused as she got up and walked into the living room area to find it empty as well. "Huh," she said aloud as she heard a knock at the door. "Just a second," she called out as she hurried back to the bedroom to slip on a robe.

"Can I help you?" she asked opening the door as two men entered the room with two large trays of food. "Who ordered this?" she asked in confusion. "Are you sure you have the right room?"

"Room five fifteen," the young man said handing her an envelope with her name on it. "Your husband asked us to deliver breakfast to you at nine thirty sharp."

"Oh. Well thank you," she replied pulling two ten dollar bills from her purse and handing one to each man.

"You are very welcome ma'am. If there is anything else you need don't hesitate to call and you have a wonderful day," the second man said as they stepped back into the hallway.

"What are you up to Elliot Stabler?" she asked as she opened the envelope.

Inside was a note in Elliot's handwriting scribbled on a piece of hotel stationary. Olivia smiled as she read the words explaining his absence. He had decided to pick the children up early and do a little last minute Christmas shopping. He apologized for not waking her, but needed a little time alone with the kids to shop for her. Elliot explained that he let her sleep in and ordered her breakfast and that he should be back shortly.

Olivia smiled and laughed for a moment, just now realizing that the guy from the kitchen had referred to Elliot as her husband. She pulled back a large silver lid to reveal a platter of freshly scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and toast. On the second platter were bagels, danish pastries, fresh fruit and yogurt.

"I don't know where to start," Olivia said to herself as she began to fill a plate with food.

She carefully covered the rest of the food and carried her plate back to the bedroom. There she turned on the television and began flipping through the channels finally resting on "It's A Wonderful Life."

"My favorite," she said as she propped pillows against the headboard and leaned back to get comfortable.

It was about ten thirty when Elliot returned with the children. They carried their gift bags and wrapping paper in and sat in the living room floor as they quickly wrapped the gifts they had picked out for Olivia.

Elliot knocked gently on the door, but got no answer. This time he pushed the door open gently and pulled it quietly closed behind him once more. He smiled as he approached the bed to see Olivia sleeping soundly once more. He knew the flight had really wore her out and was hoping she would use this little bit of alone time to catch up on her rest before he returned with the children.

He laid across the bed beside her and kissed the tip of her nose.

"Liv, baby, I'm back," he said softly as her eyes fluttered open. "Good morning."

"Good morning," she replied with a sweet smile.

"I didn't meant to slip out on you, but when I spoke to Maureen this morning she mentioned that they wanted to do some Christmas shopping for you. They weren't sure what to get you, so I picked them up and gave them each a little money. I took them for a quick breakfast and we discussed ideas."

Olivia smiled.

"That is so sweet."

"You have not seen what they got you yet," he said with a chuckle.

"It doesn't matter what they got me. That is the sweetest gesture. You have such thoughtful children."

Elliot smiled.

"Yea, sometimes they still amaze me. Dickie wanted to get you a two foot tall remote control dinosaur, but I wouldn't let him."

Olivia laughed.

"I like dinosaurs."

"I think he was kind of hoping you wouldn't like it and it would be handed off to him."

Olivia laughed again.

"Smart kid."

"Too smart for his own good. They are wrapping your gifts now," he said as they heard a light tap on the bedroom door and Elizabeth pushed it open just a crack to peek inside.

"We're ready," she whispered to her father.

"Why don't you guys start dividing out the gifts into piles and Liv and I will be out in a few minutes. No opening yet," he reminded her.

"Okay daddy," she replied as she closed the door and rushed back to the other room.

"I'd better hurry before they start without us," Olivia said as she climbed form the bed and made her way into the bathroom.

They sat around the tree and watched as the kids all opened their gifts. Then it was Olivia's turn to open her gifts from the children. A sweater with a snowman from Elizabeth and perfume from Kathleen, a bath gift set from Dickie and a watch from Maureen.

"Thank you guys," Olivia replied with a smile as she stuffed discarded wrapping paper into a garbage bag.

"Do you really like your gifts?" Dickie asked.

"I do," Olivia answered.

"I was going to get you something way cooler, but dad wouldn't let me. It was a dinosaur and it walked and roared and you could make it eat things."

"Sound cool," Olivia said as the boy smiled.

"Maybe for your birthday," he said with a nod as he returned his attention to his own gifts.

Olivia looked over at Elliot and they both laughed.

"Olivia?" Elizabeth asked with a shy smile.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Are you going to marry my daddy?" the little girl asked fixing her big blue eyes on Olivia as she awaited a response.

Suddenly the room grew still as the children all waited for her to speak.

"Well….uhh….umm," she stuttered looking to Elliot for a little help, but he was staring at her as well. "I care very deeply for your father. We care a lot about each other and I want him to always be a part of my life. But I don't really know if we have been together long enough to talk about getting married. Maybe some day."

She watched as the blank stared slowly turned into smiles.

"Good. Because I like you and so does my daddy."

Olivia laughed still a little frazzled.

"Well, I like you, too."

"I have one more," Elliot replied handing Olivia a large shiny green box tied with beautiful silver and red ribbon. "I had a little help with this one," he said as she took a seat on the sofa to open the gift.

"The wrapping is really pretty," she said as she removed the lid to reveal another box inside.

Inside that box was one just a little bit smaller and inside that box was another. And another. And another. Finally Olivia held a small shiny red box as she pushed the others aside. She untied the green ribbon, so sure she'd find yet another box. But that isn't what she found at all.

Elliot and the children watched nervously as she stared down at the gift for a moment in silence, then looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Say something," he whispered as she looked around the room at the kids.

"What is this?" she whispered.

Elliot knelt on one knee in front of her as he pulled a diamond ring from the box and held it for her to see.

"We talked it over, Olivia. And we have all decided that we want you to be a part of our family. We want you to be a Stabler."

Olivia stared into his eyes as the ring sparkled and she began to cry.

"I love you and I want to spend every moment of the rest of my life as your husband. Olivia Benson, will you marry me?"

She gasped, not so sure she wouldn't pass out as she began to nod, unable to speak.

"Yes," she finally managed to whisper as she leaned forward and threw her arms around his neck.

Elliot smiled and wiped the tears from her cheeks as he kissed her tenderly. Just then the kids all began to clap and Olivia laughed.

"You planned this whole thing out?"

"I did. We discussed it over breakfast this morning. I had planned to wait until New Year's Eve to pop the question, but the kids really wanted to be a part of the big moment. So after breakfast we went searching the city for jewelry stores that were opened Christmas Day."

"I'm surprised there were any."

"There were three. And the first two didn't have anything that we all liked."

"This is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen."

"The girls actually found it," he said pointing to Kathleen and Maureen. "And the moment I saw it, I know it was the one. And it was the only one we could all agree on."

"Putting it in all of those boxes was my idea," Dickie boasted proudly.

"It was a really good idea. I had no idea what was in that box. I sure was not expecting a ring."

"I thought for sure Elizabeth was gonna blow it. She can't keep a secret," Kathleen said patting her little sister on the top of the head.

"I can too! I didn't tell anybody!"

"No you didn't," Olivia replied as the little girl smiled.

"Are you guys about ready for some lunch?" Elliot asked looking at his watch. "It is half past twelve and I told your mother I would have you home by two so you can have your Christmas with her."

"It sucks that we have to leave. We hardly ever get to see you," Kathleen said looking at her father.

"Yea, why couldn't we have nasty fruit cake at Grandmas some other day?" Dickie agreed.

"Actually guys, Liv and I were thinking….if you wanted to, maybe you could all sleep here tonight."

"Really?" Elizabeth squealed in excitement.

"Really," Elliot answered as she climbed into his arms.

"What about mom?" Maureen asked with a worried look.

"I talked to mom and we worked it out. You are gonna go to your grandparents house with her for supper. Then tonight around seven or eight o'clock, you can drive everyone back over here. Liv and I were thinking we could lounge around and watch TV together, eat a lot of junk food, maybe play some games. What do you guys think?"

"I can't believe you got mom to agree to it!" Maureen confessed.

"Yea, she must be sick or something," Kathleen agreed.

"Maybe she is just feeling the holiday spirit. I don't know, but I am definitely taking advantage of it. Olivia and I also have a surprise for you guys."

"Another present?" Dickie asked as he perked up at attention.

"Sort of," Elliot replied taking Olivia's hand in his and winking at her.

"Is it a puppy?" Elizabeth asked in excitement.

"Not exactly," Elliot laughed. "Liv and I are going to have a baby."

"A baby?" Maureen asked trying to get used to the idea.

"Yes. In May," Elliot replied.

Olivia watched nervously as she felt four pairs of eyes suddenly scanning over her body. Things were silent for a moment and she frantically looked over at Elliot.

"What do you guys think?" he asked.

"Can we get a puppy, too?" Dickie asked.

"Dickie, be serious," Maureen scolded.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Elizabeth?"

"Is the baby going to be a boy or a girl?"

"It's a girl," Olivia said softly as she presented them with the sonogram picture.

"You are going to have a little sister."

Elizabeth grinned.

"I'm going to be the big sister! I wont be the baby anymore!"

"No, honey, I guess you wont. But you will always be daddy's baby."

"I can't wait to be a big sister!" she almost shrieked in excitement.

"Me either," Kathleen said with a smile.

"My birthday is in May," Maureen said as her eyes lit up. "You should try to have her on the second."

Olivia laughed.

"She is due on the twelfth, but you never know."

"What do you think, son?" Elliot asked.

"I think the next one should be a brother," he replied. "I'm good with another sister, but I can't be the only boy in the family."

"We'll try to remember that the next time around," Olivia said with a smile as Elliot locked his fingers between hers.

"I'm gonna teach her ballet," Elizabeth said as she placed her palm against Olivia's shirt in an attempt to feel the baby.

"Can you feel her?" Olivia asked.

"No," Elizabeth said as she frowned.

"Here," Olivia replied standing up and smoothing the shirt over her baby bump. She took her fingers and pushed around in little circles to rouse their infant and in moments the baby was kicking like crazy.

"Here," she said taking Elizabeth's hand and placing it over the place where the baby kicked inside. "Now can you feel her?"

She watched at Elizabeth smiled.

"I can feel her moving in there."

Olivia laughed.

"I wanna feel," Dickie said moving forward and reaching out.

"Dickie, that's rude!" Kathleen remarked as he placed both hands on her belly.

"It's alright. I don't mind," Olivia said as their little one kicked her big brother's hand really hard. "That is so cool!"

Olivia smiled and looked over at Elliot as the older girls moved in to feel the baby move as well.

"Dad, you guys will have to come back here so we can have a baby shower," Maureen said with a smile.

"I am supposed to get you guys for a month out of the summer. It's completely up to you, but I was thinking maybe I could see about flying you all back to New York around the time the baby is born. Maybe just after, that way we have time to get her settled in at home."

"Where are we going to stay, dad? Your apartment isn't big enough for the six of us and a new baby."

"Liv and I are still working out the details. But by then we will more than likely have a new place."

"That would be cool," Kathleen replied.

"Now," Elliot said clearing his throat, "who is ready for some lunch?"

"I am," the kids all chimed in as they began to argue over where to go eat.

Half an hour later, seated around a table at Ed Debevic's deciding what to order. Elliot leaned in close to Olivia and slipped his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him.

"I told you there was nothing to worry about. They adore you. And they are excited about us getting married and about their new baby sister."

"I am so relieved that they are happy about all of the news. And I had no idea you were going to propose today."

"Really?"

"Nope. I was completely surprised. Do you really think that we are ready for something this big? I mean there are things that we still don't know about each other."

"Liv, my parents were married for 45 years before they died and after all of that time there were still things they didn't know about each other. All the things we need to know we will learn in time," he said brushing his fingertip across her forehead and kissing her tenderly. "We love each other. And as long as we share that love, we have everything we need to make a marriage work."

"I guess after having a not so great experience the first time I am just a little gun-shy."

"Me too, baby. But I love you with all of my heart and I respect you. I know that we can do this. But it's okay to be scared. We can just take a little time to get used to the idea of forever. We don't have to do this right away."

"I don't want to get married without the kids there," she said looking around the table.

"I promise you, when we get married the kids will be at the wedding…._all _of the kids."

"If you can make that happen you are a miracle worker," she said softly as she laid her head against his shoulder.

"I wont give up until I do. I can be very persistent. Eventually he will get tired of me bugging him and give in."

"Or file a restraining order against you," Olivia said with a sarcastic smile.

"Then that would give us reason to take him back to court. I'm not going to give up on Nicky either, Liv. If you and I are going to be married he will be my son just as much as these guys are yours. We are a family….all seven and a half of us," he said with a smile as he placed his palm on her belly. "And I wont give up until we can live like one. I hope that once David sees that you are no threat to him at all, he will loosen up and agree to some kind of visitation arrangement."

"When Hell freezes over," she said with a worried look.

"Hey, he said that about letting you see him the first time too and you see how that worked out."

"True."

"See, persistence," Elliot boasted with a proud grin.

"You are so amazing," she whispered as she kissed him tenderly. "And I love you so much."

"I love you too, baby. Merry Christmas," Elliot said with a grin as he kissed her left hand with the large diamond ring on it.

"Merry Christmas," she said with a sparkle in her eye.


	14. 14 A Brand New Year

**_AUTHOR'S Note: I am sorry it has taken me so long to update. I have just been super busy with school and work and have struggled with update ideas. Also, the only place I have internet access right now is at work and I cannot post updates from there. I will try not to go this long between updates anymore. Thank you all for being so patient with me! This one if for all of my loyal readers, without you guys I would just be writing stories to myself. You all ROCK!_**

**_- Detective Olivia Stabler -_**

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Fourteen: A Brand New Year) _

_**January 2**__**nd**__**…..**_

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Fin asked looking over his shoulder at Elliot.

"You just watch the door and let me know if she is coming."

"I don't see her. I don't see anyone."

"Just watch," Elliot ordered pointing at the door.

"I got it," he said looking back to watch Elliot arrange a large bunch of roses on Olivia's desk. "It's just an awful big thing to do without her, isn't it? What if she hates it? What if she just gets pissed? I know you are trying to be all romantic for her, but this whole thing could backfire and blow up in your face."

"It wont."

"How do you know?"

"I just know. I know Liv. And I think she'll love it."

"Think? You think? You just bought a house, man! Shouldn't you have at least talked it over with her first?"

Elliot smiled.

"We have been looking at houses for over a month. We have talked it over. And Olivia has seen this house, it isn't like I'm buying something that she has never even been in before. It has everything that we are looking for, but…."

"Oh, man! There is a but? And you still bought the house?"

"Olivia fell in love with this house, Fin. Out of the two dozen we looked at, there were always parts we liked. The kitchen from this one and the yard from that one, until we had put together our own perfect house in our minds. Then we found it. This is the one."

"But?" Fin said sarcastically.

"But, it was a little out of our price range."

"How far out?"

"Twelve thousand dollars."

"Damn, man! That isn't a little out of it, El. That is a price range all of it's own."

"You didn't see her face, Fin. She is in love with this house. I had to find a way to make it happen for her….for us. She deserves this."

"So do you. I'm glad to hear things are going so well for the two of you. But do you really think you can find an extra twelve thousand in your budget?"

"I worked something out. I leased my apartment."

"I thought you were going to sell your place?"

"I had planned to. But one of my neighbors has a son who recently moved back into the area and was looking for a place. I got a really good deal and the money from this will help out with the new mortgage. It works out good for him, because his mother is getting older and this will allow him to be close enough to keep an eye on her."

"Still, that isn't twelve thousand."

"Well, Liv is still selling her place. We will work it out. I will find a way to work it out. She loves it. This is her dream. The house, the baby, the family. I can't live knowing that I was this close to making her dream come true and just didn't try hard enough. She's going to be my wife, it is my job to make her dreams come true."

"Well, congratulations, man. And I hope you're right. I hope she loves it."

"Thanks, Fin. Now get over there and watch that door. Liv will be back from court any minute now and I want to have this waiting here for her when she returns."

Fin smiled as Elliot tied a strip of ribbon around the box and turned his attention to the hallway once more.

Fifteen minutes later Olivia stepped off the elevator and made her way into the bullpen. As usual she had her nose stuck in a file and didn't notice the roses until she sat down at her desk. She smiled as she smelled the flowers and dropped the file to pick up the little box wrapped in shiny purple paper and a silver ribbon. Immediately her eyes shot up and scanned the room for him. Olivia smiled as she spotted Elliot watching her from the soda machine across the room.

"Thank you," she mouthed with a smile.

"Open it," he replied with a wink.

She returned her attention to the neatly wrapped package with an overabundance of tape. She fidgeted with it for a moment then reached into her desk drawer pulling out a nail file and slipping in beneath an edge to break the seal on the tape. She carefully slid the paper and ribbon from the box and laid it aside on her desk. She then removed the lid from the box and stared inside.

Fin and Elliot watched nervously as a puzzled look crossed her face.

"It's a key," she said looking up at him.

"It is."

"It doesn't look like a car key. So….what does it open?" she asked staring into him with her big brown eyes as he laid a file folder on the desk in front of her.

Olivia opened the file and skimmed her eyes over some fort of contract inside.

"Our new house," he said laying the add for the house on top of the papers.

"Our hou…?" Olivia studied the picture and shot a smile up at him. "Our house? You bought the house?"

For a moment Elliot couldn't tell if this was a good or a bad reaction.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Fin mumbled under his breath.

"I did."

"I thought it was way out of our budget?"

"I'll work something out. This is our dream house. It is perfect for our family and I saw the look on your face the first time you saw it. This is the one."

"It is, huh?"

"Yes."

Olivia squealed in excitement and threw her arms around his neck.

"I cannot believe you bought the house!"

"Well, there is still some paperwork that you have to sign before things are final. So, technically it is only half ours right now."

Olivia laughed as she picked up the key.

"So when can we go to our new house?"

"We have an appointment at three this afternoon to meet the realtor at the house and finalize the paperwork. At that time she will hand us the other set of keys. And there may just be one more surprise."

Olivia giggled in excitement.

"Thank you so much," she whispered as she leaned in to kiss him.

"You are very welcome, sweetheart."

"I love you so much. And I am going to make you so happy, I promise."

"You already do. I love you too, baby."

"A heck of a way to start New Year. A new baby, a new family, a new fiancé and a new house."

"Soon a new husband," he corrected her.

Olivia smiled.

"I know we've been talking about getting married in the summer after the baby comes, but how set are you on a big wedding?"

"I had a big wedding the first time. If you'd rather do something small, that is fine with me as long as it is legal."

"Really?"

"Yea."

"What if we did something smaller, sooner?"

"Sooner? That's okay with me. Whenever, wherever, I will be there. The summer thing was mainly so that the kids could all be there."

"What if we had a really small wedding? Like just the two of us?" she asked. "Then we could do something later with the kids as a family."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could go away together….for Valentine's Day, and get married. Then this summer, after I have the baby and we have the whole family together, we could plan a honeymoon/family vacation. What do you think?"

"I love that idea."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And I love you."

"I love you too," Elliot replied with a kiss.


	15. 15 Hopelessly Devoted To You

_Be Careful What You Wish For_

_(Chapter Fifteen: Hopelessly Devoted To You) _

Olivia sighed as the alarm clock began to sound.

"Shut it off," Elliot snarled from under his pillow. "It is Saturday, I don't know why you would set the alarm anyway."

"Because, we have things to do," she replied removing his arm from around her waist and climbing from the bed.

"I am sure those things could be done after the sun comes up."

"Our plane leaves in four hours and there is so much to do, El. Please get up," she begged from the bathroom as she stepped into the shower.

"Okay," he said with a groan. "I'm up," remembering the real reason behind this little lover's getaway.

He stretched and made his way into the kitchen to start the coffee. He stood there staring out the window into the dark and sleepy little neighborhood and smiled.

"You know I almost forgot how quiet it gets when you're not living in the city," he said kicking off his boxers. "Have I told you how much I love this house?" he asked pulling open the shower curtain and stepping in behind her.

"I do believe I may have heard it once or twice."

Elliot slipped his arms around her and kissed her tenderly.

"I still think the washer and dryer are the best part," she said with a smile.

"I thought you would like that. I went down and bought them right after I found out we got the house. I had to pull a few strings to get next day delivery, but I wanted them to be there in our house in our laundry room when we came to sign the papers."

"It is really going to be handy once the baby comes. Not having to lug a newborn down to the smelly old basement every time I need to wash her clothes….I really do appreciate that. And do you know how many quarters we have saved?"

Elliot laughed as he lathered her hair with shampoo and washed her back for her. He kissed her again and backed her under the water to rinse her hair.

"Hopefully enough to pay for a brand new washer and dryer," he joked.

"We are going for the Weekend," Elliot groaned as he loaded the last of her four bags into the back of the taxi. "Well, extended weekend. Still, we will only be gone for four days. How could you possibly use enough stuff to pack four bags?"

"I have to have clothes, Elliot."

"This is all clothes?"

"And shoes. And a dress for…."

"Ahh, a dress," he replied kissing her tenderly as she smiled.

"Oh, the dress!" she said spinning around and running back into the house.

"And another bag," Elliot said as she returned with a travel garment bag. "So if your dress is in there and shoes are in this one, what is in the other three?"

"Stuff," she replied with a devious smile as she kissed him again.

"Stuff?"

"Stuff," she said clearing her throat as she raised an eyebrow.

Elliot smiled finally catching on.

"Well, we will want to make sure we don't forget anything then. We need stuff."

Olivia laughed and hugged him.

"You know, one of those four bags has your stuff in it, too."

On the plane, Olivia settled into her window seat and anxiously awaited take off.

"I thought you hated flying?" Elliot whispered as the plane began finally began to move.

"I do. It usually takes at least four of those tiny little drinks to secure a pleasant flight for me. Not this time," she replied with a smile as she smoothed her hands over the place where their sleeping daughter laid.

"You seem awfully calm," he said kissing her tenderly and slipping his hand around his.

"I am practicing my breathing," she joked. "I am nowhere close to calm. I am ecstatic. So full of excitement I could burst and it is taking everything inside of me to remain in my seat. In less than 24 hours, we will finally be husband and wife. I won't just be your baby mama anymore," she said with a laugh.

"You have never JUST been my baby mama," he quickly corrected her. "You are now and always have been the love of my life. From the first moment we met," he said with a wink. "And I want to make all of your dreams come true."

"You already are," she whispered to him with sparkling eyes as she placed a soft kiss against his lips.

The plane jolted and shook and Olivia groaned.

"Are you okay?" he asked squeezing her hand.

He watched as she shook her head and closed her eyes tight.

"I don't hate flying. I hate take off. And turbulence. And landing. And all of the other times when I feel like I am going to die. But the parts in the middle when everything is smooth, four or five minutes at a time, that part isn't that bad."

Elliot laughed a little and kissed her once more.

"I don't remember you freaking out this badly on the plane back from Chicago."

"I don't remember being conscious," quipped with a grin. "After I located my carry on, I popped a couple of Valium and slept the rest of the flight."

Elliot smiled, suddenly remembering.

"Yea, I guess you did."

"Trust me, if it were possible to drive to the Virgin Islands I would NOT be on this plane right now," she assured him.

"You don't have anything to worry about," he assured her. "I am right here to protect you," he whispered kissing her forehead as Olivia snuggled into his shoulder.

"Well," she sighed as the look of uncertainty returned to her face, "that makes me feel a little better about the flight. But It doesn't help much with the morning sickness," she replied as she popped up from her seat and shot across him and another passenger, praying all the way to the bathroom that they were not all occupied.

"St. Thomas, here we come," Elliot mumbled under his breath as the old lady in the seat next to him smiled.

Elliot sweet talked the elderly woman at the end of the row into trading seats with Olivia. This arrangement seemed a bit more practical to him, though when they had booked the flight Olivia had insisted she would be fine and preferred a window seat. About four bathroom trips later, she had finally settled enough to relax.

He smiled shaking his head, looking down at her now, sleeping soundly with her head nestled into his arm. Tonight at sunset, they would exchange vows on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. She would be his wife and he would be her husband. And in a few short months, they would welcome the arrival of their beautiful baby daughter. How did he get so lucky?

"Babe," Elliot whispered and Olivia raised her head and opened her eyes to stare at him.

"We're about to land?" she asked looking around her as people began to stand.

"We already did," he said with a smile.

"You let me sleep through it?"

"You hate landing," he reminded her.

"Aww," the old lady near the window said aloud as Olivia smiled and kissed him.

"I told you I would keep you safe."

Olivia smiled, never having felt more loved than she did in this moment.

"Oh, sorry," she replied looking over at the woman and realizing that she could not exit the plane until they had.

"I am in no rush dear," the woman assured her with a smile and a nod.

The airport was a madhouse, but life seemed to slow to a much more comfortable pace once they slipped into the backseat of the cab and were on their way to the resort.

"This place is beautiful," Olivia said gazing out the window and one of many beaches they passed along the way.

"And peaceful," added gently squeezing her hand. "Perfect for our little romantic escape."

After check in, Olivia unpacked her bags and began to settle into their suite. Elliot had already sprawled out across the sofa and found a game on one of the many sports channels.

"El?" she asked stepping into the doorway of the living area as she adjusted her earring.

"Yea?"

"You know they have two award winning golf courses here at the resort," she said with a soft smile as she curled up beside him on the sofa.

"Why do I get the feeling you are trying to get rid of me?"

Olivia smiled and kissed him tenderly.

"You are not supposed to see the bride before the wedding," she whispered a reminder as she smoothed her hand over his chest and gave him a slow and passionate kiss.

"So you do want me to leave?" he chuckled.

"I need to get ready. And I know nothing else about the way we do things, the baby or the wedding, has been traditional….but I would really like to stick with tradition on this part."

"No problem," Elliot said looking down at his watch and eyeing the time. "We have just over two hours before the big 'I do,' would it be alright if I catch the last fifteen minutes or so of this game? Then I will get lost, I promise."

Olivia laughed.

"Sure. And I don't want you to get lost. I would really like for you to be able to find your way back to me."

"Always, baby. You are my north star….my beacon in the night. Your love will always lead me home."

"You are such a flirt," she said standing to walk away as Elliot grabbed her hand and pulled her back to sit on his lap.

"I mean it," he said with a very serious look in his azure blue eyes. "Marriage is not something I take lightly, Olivia. This is a very serious subject for me. I put everything I had into my last marriage and it ended badly. I lost more than I ever thought I had to lose. I had never felt so broken and alone. Then you walked into my life and all of that changed. Every day since the day I met you has been the best day of my life. And I don't think that is ever going to change. I know things moved kind of fast between us. But I want you to understand that I put a lot of thought into this relationship with you, into the life I want to build with you. I didn't ask you to marry me because you were pregnant, Olivia. I know that though has probably crossed your mind at least a time or two. I asked you to marry me, because I knew that you were….are the only one woman I want to spend the rest of my life with," he said with a smile as tears rose in her eyes. "Our beautiful little girl, she was just an added bonus. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, before I ever even knew about the baby. And I was kicking myself for just letting you walk away that day when we left the airport. I prayed to God, that if I couldn't have you I wanted him to help me forget you. Then the next day as I sat at my desk feeling sorry for myself and trying everything I could to get you off my mind, I looked up and there you stood. My angel."

"You think that was a sign?" she asked softly.

"I know it was," Elliot replied brushing a bit of dark hair from her eyes.

Olivia smiled and Elliot kissed her.

"And today," he said placing his palm against hers and raising their hands as he locked their fingers together, "today, we make it official. Today, I make my best friend my wife."

"I can't wait," she replied hugging him tight.

"You go ahead and start getting ready. Close the bedroom doors and I promise I won't peek."

Olivia smiled.

"The game is almost over and I will be out of here in a few minutes."

"You'd better not peek. I have to get all pretty for you before the wedding."

"Baby, I don't know if is possible for anyone to be any prettier than you are right now," he said leaning forward to kiss her tenderly.

Olivia laughed and playfully pushed him back against the sofa as he kissed a sensitive spot on her neck.

"Save it for tonight, Mr. Stabler," she said with a sexy grin. "I will meet you downstairs in two hours. "Right now, I am going to take a shower. And wash away the jetlag from the flight."

"You sure you don't need any company in there?"

He watched as she shook her head, then disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door.

When Olivia had finished getting ready for her big day, she opened the bedroom door to find her husband to be passed out on the sofa. She laughed and shook her head as she made her way to his side and picked up his phone from the coffee table. She pulled a sheet of stationary from the desk drawer and scribbled a quick note, then headed out the door with a garment bag in hand.

Fifteen minutes later Elliot awoke to the buzzing of the alarm on his phone. As he sat up he noticed her note on the table. He rubbed his eyes and smiled as he studied her perfect penmanship.

"_**El, I'm headed to my hair appointment. You must have fallen asleep during the game and I figured I'd give you a few extra minutes to sleep. You are going to need your strength for tonight. I will see you in an hour. I will meet you on the beach at sunset. I'll be the one in white with the big belly. **_

_** I love you so much,**_

_** Olivia **_

_**PS- We won the game!"**_

Elliot smiled again. He moved to the bedroom to find his clothes laid out across the bed waiting for him and the little black box containing her wedding band sitting beside them. After a quick shower and a little cologne, he slipped the ring box into his pocket and headed down to the beach to meet the woman of his dreams and start their forever.

Just west of the hotel was a place where emerald colored waters sparkled in the radiant glow of the sunset. There were white sandy beaches as far as the eye could see and there on a platform under the palm trees stood a beautiful arbor decorated with cascading white flowers.

This was the place where guests gathered every evening to bear witness as couples exchanged their vows. And later in the evening a large celebration would be held in honor of all of the newlyweds. Elliot made his way to the area where the grooms of the evening waited in anticipation. He stood, his heart racing as his eyes scanned the crowd in search of his one true love.

Then there, through the crowd he saw the prettiest smile he had ever seen. Her dark eyes sparkled as an usher began to lite the torches surrounding the area and dusk began creeping in around them. He smiled and watched as a man offered Olivia his hand to help her onto the platform.

"Mr. Stabler," the man said turning to nod at Elliot.

He stepped up on the makeshift stage and took her hand in his. Elliot couldn't see or hear anything that was taking place around them. All he could do was stare into her eyes. His entire world centered around this woman and today….right now he was taking her as his wife.

"El," Olivia whispered with a soft smile.

He blinked as she squeezed his hand, then turned his attention to the preacher.

"Do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?" the man repeated with a smile.

"I do," Elliot said proudly.

Moments later he lifted the sheer veil that covered her face. He raised his fingertips to caress her cheek and tipped her chin as he kissed her tenderly. Their first kiss as husband and wife.


End file.
